Ignoring Lawrence.The U.S. Supreme Court was unambiguous in Lawrence v. Texas The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S., 123 S.Ct. 2472, 156 L.Ed.2d 508 (2003), striking down state Sodomy laws as applied to gays and lesbians. , its 6-3 decision in 2003 that struck down the nation's sodomy laws A sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as sex crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law, but is typically understood by courts to include any sexual act which does not lead to procreation. . But at least two states are stubbornly refusing to conform. In Kansas last year the state's second highest court pushed Lawrence aside to uphold a state law meting out different punishments for gay and straight sex. The court upheld the 17-year prison sentence imposed on Matthew Limon in 2000 for engaging in oral sex with a 14-year-old male when Limon was 18. The state's "Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers die as teenagers. [Br. Lit.: Romeo and Juliet] See : Death, Premature Romeo and Juliet archetypal star-crossed lovers. [Br. Lit. " law sets the maximum penalty for straight teenagers at 15 months if they have sex with a minor within four years of their age. The court said that the 1,260% sentencing discrepancy was just fine, because Kansas had the right to punish gay sex with minors more harshly than the exact same sex acts performed by an opposite-sex teen. The American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. is now appealing the case to the Kansas supreme court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas based in Topeka. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Kay McFarland, the Court supervises the legal profession, administers over the judicial branch, and serves as the state court of last , where a decision is expected in September. Meanwhile, Virginia attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore--who's running for governor on an antigay platform--is refusing to void that state's sodomy law, contending Virginia can still prosecute gay men who meet in public. Prosecutors are holding fast to the 2004 solicitation of sodomy sodomy Noncoital carnal copulation. Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions. Some sodomy laws, particularly in Middle Eastern countries and those jurisdictions observing Shari'ah law, provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the conviction of Joel Singson, claiming he intended to have sex in public and that Lawrence applies only to private sex. Singson, arrested after propositioning an undercover cop in a department store restroom, insists he intended to have sex in a private place; the police officer disagrees. The Virginia court of appeals is expected to hear oral arguments this fall. |
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