Default Dooms Minnesota Sodomy Law
Gay.com /
PlanetOut.com Network, September 4, 2001
By Tom Musbach
SUMMARY: The Minnesota attorney general’s office let a deadline pass
Friday for appealing a district court judge’s ruling that the state’s
sodomy law is unconstitutional.
The Minnesota attorney general’s office let a deadline pass Friday for
appealing a district court judge’s ruling that the state’s sodomy law is
unconstitutional.
"Because of the non-appeal, it’s over," said Chuck Samuelson,
executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, which helped start
the lawsuit challenging the state law.
Hennepin County District Judge Delila Pierce ruled in May that the ban on
oral sex and other sexual activities between consenting adults violated
citizens’ privacy rights under the Minnesota Constitution.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Saturday that Chief Deputy
Attorney General Alan Gilbert consulted Gov. Jesse Ventura’s office before
deciding that an appeal of Judge Pierce’s ruling lacked merit.
"We just think that the legal principles of the court are soundly
based," Gilbert said.
Minnesota is the third state to strike down sodomy laws this year. In
April, an Arkansas judged ruled that the state’s ban on consensual sex
between adult, same-sex partners was unconstitutional. [The ruling has been appealed
to the Arkansas Supreme Court. - Bob] In May, Arizona Gov. Jane Hall signed
into law a repeal of her state’s sodomy laws.
According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, four states —
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri — have sodomy laws that focus on
same-sex activities, while 11 other states outlaw various sexual acts for
straight and GLBT citizens alike.
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