6/26/2003
Does ruling effect Florida?
The US Supreme Court has reversed itself and ruled states cannot criminalize gay sex. (And can you believe Justice Scalia's absurd remark that court majority "has taken sides in the culture war"? Wouldn't sanctioning a state's outlawing of homosexual activity represent an even more forceful "taking of sides"? )
Most reports say that Florida's laws are invalidated along with Texas'. Well, yes, sorta. Except that Florida's sodomy laws have been in legal limbo for awhile. (See sodomylaws.org's Florida page for the details and legal cites.) Florida's Constitution, you see, has its own privacy amendment. Privacy, under state law, is not an implied right; it's an explicit right.
Bottom line: The ruling doesn't have much practical effect here, unless it provokes the Legislature into passing something outrageously unconstitutional. But then I'm no lawyer.
(See, too, the Herald story.)
Most reports say that Florida's laws are invalidated along with Texas'. Well, yes, sorta. Except that Florida's sodomy laws have been in legal limbo for awhile. (See sodomylaws.org's Florida page for the details and legal cites.) Florida's Constitution, you see, has its own privacy amendment. Privacy, under state law, is not an implied right; it's an explicit right.
Bottom line: The ruling doesn't have much practical effect here, unless it provokes the Legislature into passing something outrageously unconstitutional. But then I'm no lawyer.
(See, too, the Herald story.)
