LGBT News LA House Votes Overwhelmingly To Retain Unconstitutional Sodomy Ban

Wow...

 

I don't get this decision at all. It's unenforceable, you'll never get a successful prosecution with it and they're likely inviting anyone and everyone who is arrested to sue them into the poor house.

The only conclusion I can come to is that they kept this because they think this'll be a vote winner and let's be honest, it's the deep south so it probably will be.

 

Actually, any arrest would be perfectly legal so long as probable cause to believe an individual was engaging in sodomy existed. Cops are not tasked with bringing criminal charges upon an individual, they are charged with, among many other tasks, detaining those in violation of the law. If a law is on the books, it is still law, and a cop may arrest any individual they have rightful cause to believe is violating it. Whether or not it is enforceable is a matter of whether charges can be brought, and that is a totally separate area of law enforcement from cops. A judge would be bound to release the individual at arraignment since the prosecution can't actually file charges since the law is unenforceable, but the Louisiana jurisdictions that currently arrest homosexuals don't care about that. The point is to fuck with gay people by throwing them in jail until a judge can see them, and as the law stands that is perfectly legal. I'm sorry to say it, but if the cops have reasonable cause to believe there was or would be gay sex (such as in the case of that jurisdiction that carries out stings on gay men), there is no grounds for a lawsuit, as it is not considered wrongful arrest. That's why some of these towns still arrest gay people and haven't gotten sued over it.

 

It's being kept on the books as a symbolic reminder that Sodomites are going to Hell and are not welcome in good Bible-believing Southern Baptist Louisiana. It's pure animus.

 

Once again, bitter old Republicans on parade. And another reason I would never live in Louisiana, nor vacation there, and give them an extra dime of tax money.

They can take their craw-fish, and sit and spin, with a gumbo lube, in a FEMA trailer by an oil spill.

 

How do they enforce that? Do they follow you to your bedrooms or something?


Male 1: Sleep well sweety.
Male 2: You too. Good night.
Law Enforcer: Remember, don't do anything illegal under those covers. Good night.

 

[/COLOR]

Last summer there were some stings in Baton Rouge where the police proposition men for gay sex, then arrest them when they consented. A couple years before that it happened in Michigan. They can't press charges, but they can lock you up until a judge is available (which could be a few days if it happens on a Friday).

I want to see them try this bullshit in New Orleans. It's like the San Francisco of the Deep South. The French Quarter would probably end up on fire somehow.

 

Exactly. I agree 100%. They're not stupid. They know the charges will never stick. That's not the point. The point is to harass gay people by arresting them.

And of course, if you're arrested, the local newspaper can report on it and out you to the entire town. That's how things worked in the past, and how they ruined lives. That's how they plan to continue to use them, with the caveat that they can't actually keep us in prison now.

 

It is still quite possible to sue for wrongful imprisonment under a law that became invalidated upon the Supreme Court's decision long ago.

 

No, it isn't, because it isn't wrongful imprisonment if you are held pending arraignment following a legal arrest. The arrest is legal if there is sufficient reason to believe sodomy did or would happen (such as in a sting operation, which has been done more than once), regardless of whether or not it is constitutional to press charges for sodomy.

Essentially, the Supreme Court banned enforcement of the law, but that ban effects whether or not charges can be filed, which is in the hands of the DA's office. It did not remove the law from the books, and if the law is on the books you can be arrested for a violation and it is legal, regardless of what the Supreme Court said about the actual validity of trying someone under the law.

Basically, if get arrested in one of these stings, you do not have any legal recourse.

 

Louisiana Sodomy Sting: How Invalidated Sex Laws Still Lead to Arrests | TIME.com

Here's an article from last year. They can indeed sue the city over it. No one has though.

Lawrence vs Texas INVALIDATED the anti-sodomy laws. So although they're on the books, they are completely unenforceable, even arresting. Any action in that manner can result in legal action against the city.

 

This does not surprise me in the least. The deep southern states lag in progressiveness in most areas. I have family in Tennessee and when I visited as a child and teen, I was exposed to just how much racial tension was still present and general remarks made in public that would not have been made in Maryland.

 

As another Marylander, this does make it seem like it's another world down there. Yes, there is a degree of racial tension here as everywhere, but by and large, I've seen a place where people genuinely do try to get along, and go about their own lives, without trying to purposely go out of their way to harass others. I think this is due in part to the Eastern, populous part of the state being very diverse, though it's hard to say how things like tolerance and acceptance develop. After all, Baltimore was segregated well into the 1960s, and there were many areas downtown blacks were not allowed. But we seem to have given up on that, and other prejudices, to a decent degree, and in a state that is a mixture of north and south, technically below the Mason-Dixon line. I moved here after college from Michigan, so it's been interesting to get a sense of this place. Though it also makes me wonder why certain other places remain so mired back in time...why do people so tightly cling to prejudice? What makes them hold such long grudges? How can we help change things?

I'd love to see New Orleans, though I'm kinda scared of traveling there, despite my love of many things southern: Literature, music, food. The south has always been such an enigma to me, one that both fascinates me, and makes me oddly reactive at the same time.

 

What's the point of an unenforceable law?

 

How does one enforce such a law?

"My gay sex senses are tingling..."

Though, I am not surprised...as the rest of the USA becomes more accepting, the deep south wants to retaliate and make life harder for LGBT+ people who live there.

 

Why do people want to monitor what people do in their bedroom ,:tantrum:
They do know that straight people have anal sex too right,?
What are they gonna do burst into people's room to check if their having anal sex are they trying to turn this country into Africa?:tantrum:

 

I've lived in Maryland all my life and I am more familiar with the DC suburbs than I am Baltimore City. Due to Maryland's proximity to DC, it seems like a melting pot of diversity (think Montgomery County, for example). Because MD is so diverse, I believe that is the reason marriage equality made it here and passed by ballot, which was historic. DC is a unique bubble of it's own; whereas Baltimore probably resembles more of what an "American" city is actually like.