Forum Overview :: Peter Molyneux's The Movies :: Punishing Fornication (Martin v. Ziherl)

[quote name="Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS)"][quote name="Last"]their goal isn't to punish the death of the unborn caused by the mother, it's to punish women for fornication.[/quote] I remember the incident a few years ago when the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia struck down the state law - basically unenforced - which made it a crime (a misdemeanor, which means punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine) to engage in fornication, that is, to have sex with someone if you weren't married to them. In <i>Martin v. Ziherl</i>, Muguet Martin and Kristopher Ziherl were girlfriend and boyfriend until Martin discovers Ziherl gave her herpes. So she sues him for damages (she's going to have to pay for anti-herpes medications, etc.) Because of the case of <i>Zysk v. Zysk</i>, if you're committing a crime with someone else, you can't sue them for damages arising from the crime. Since fornicating is a crime in Virginia, Martin can't sue Ziherl for damages. Martin's lawyer was very smart, he argued that because the United States Supreme Court in <i>Lawrence v. Texas</i> declared that what homosexuals do as far as consensual sex in the privacy of their homes is a right under the 4th Amendment, the law making fornication a crime was unconstitutional. Ziherl's lawyer argued that the law is basically unenforced - no one's been prosecuted for fornication in decades, probably more than 100 years - and since Martin has zero chance of being prosecuted for fornication, she has no standing to challenge the law. Trial court agrees and tosses her case. Supreme Court of Virginia reverses. Even though she faces no possibility of prosecution, because fornication is illegal and the decision in <i>Zysk v. Zysk</i> means she can't collect damages against a "joint tortfeasor" (someone who helps you commit a crime), she does have standing because she has something to lose if the law remains on the books. I read the decision, and in the undertone of the way they wrote it, they didn't like it one damn bit but since the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled homosexual sex was legal, the court had no choice, they can't very well declare <i>heterosexual</i> sex illegal while homosexual sex is legal, and so the law was struck down. The end result is now that Virginia really is for lovers! [/quote]