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Punishing Fornication (Martin v. Ziherl) by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 03/01/2012, 4:25am PST
Last wrote:

their goal isn't to punish the death of the unborn caused by the mother, it's to punish women for fornication.

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 Martin v. Ziherl, 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 Zysk v. Zysk, 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 Lawrence v. Texas 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 Zysk v. Zysk 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 heterosexual 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!
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I find this response to the abortion debate to be hilarious & quite appropriate by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 02/23/2012, 10:47am PST NEW
    I find this response to the abortion debate to be hilarious & quite appropriate by Mysterio 02/23/2012, 5:02pm PST NEW
        Re: I find this response to the abortion debate to be hilarious & quite appropri by laudablepuss 02/23/2012, 8:08pm PST NEW
        If not vasectomy, what's the closest male analogue to abortion? Masturbation? by Mischief Maker 02/24/2012, 12:43am PST NEW
            Re: If not vasectomy, what's the closest male analogue to abortion? Masturbatio by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 8:53am PST NEW
            There is no medical condition or procedure analogous to abortion by Mysterio (not the retarded one) 02/24/2012, 9:45am PST NEW
                Stretched Metaphors: The Thread NT by Entropy Stew 02/24/2012, 2:04pm PST NEW
                On the killing of abortion doctors by Xytofor Zitowich 03/01/2012, 4:04am PST NEW
        The actual counterpart is spontaneous miscarriages. by Last 02/24/2012, 8:33am PST NEW
            Re: The actual counterpart is spontaneous miscarriages. by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 9:02am PST NEW
                Yeah, stupid is the word that came to mind. by Last 02/24/2012, 9:14am PST NEW
                    Re: Yeah, stupid is the word that came to mind. by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 11:17am PST NEW
                        Oh abortion is gross and icky? You're right we should outlaw it by Worm 02/24/2012, 11:46am PST NEW
                        I'M OUTRAGED ABOUT HUMDRUM MEDICAL PROCEDURES. NT by you in your own words literally 02/24/2012, 12:19pm PST NEW
                            I CAN'T TELL WHEN SOME WORDS ARE IN EARNEST AND OTHERS ARE SARCASTIC. by You, apparently 02/24/2012, 12:37pm PST NEW
                                One involves medical tools, the other involves Schlitz. NT by Mischief Maker 02/24/2012, 1:09pm PST NEW
                                    One is done by a white Deacon's wife, the other by Freddy Krueger in a lab coat. by Last 02/24/2012, 1:14pm PST NEW
                                        Re: One is done by a white Deacon's wife, the other by Freddy Krueger in a lab c by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 1:30pm PST NEW
                                            Yeah I'm with you on that. NT by Last 02/24/2012, 1:47pm PST NEW
                                    Parents are prosecuted for FAS babies all the time by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 1:22pm PST NEW
            Re: The actual counterpart is spontaneous miscarriages. by Arbit 02/24/2012, 9:06am PST NEW
                Re: The actual counterpart is spontaneous miscarriages. by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 11:21am PST NEW
                    I don't know, what do you think? by Arbit 02/24/2012, 1:14pm PST NEW
                        Re: I don't know, what do you think? by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 1:46pm PST NEW
                            Re: I don't know, what do you think? by Arbit 02/24/2012, 4:18pm PST NEW
                                Re: I don't know, what do you think? by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 9:49pm PST NEW
                            Louder ≠ Bigger NT by Mischief Maker 02/24/2012, 4:35pm PST NEW
                                (Does not equal) NT by Mischief Maker 02/24/2012, 4:36pm PST NEW
                    Who is this? by Mysterio (not the retarded one) 02/24/2012, 3:16pm PST NEW
                        Re: Who is this? by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 4:33pm PST NEW
                        Also, if all you've got is insults, at least try to make them creative and/or fu by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 4:35pm PST NEW
                            Who taught individuality to a Mysterio then released it back to the Hive? NT by I Maker 02/24/2012, 4:37pm PST NEW
                            "All I did was label abortion doctors as cannibal butchers! No need to be RUDE!" by Mysterio (not the retarded one) 02/24/2012, 5:58pm PST NEW
                                I bet gastric bypass looks and sounds disgusting, so we should outlaw that too! by Worm 02/24/2012, 7:19pm PST NEW
                                    You're still in a tizzy over your Civil War figurines being knocked over by fabio 02/24/2012, 8:44pm PST NEW
                                        Those comparisons to the Khmer Rouge hit us all pretty hard. We'll never recover NT by Worm 02/24/2012, 10:28pm PST NEW
                                I just gave you inspiration for a new Star Trek fanfic, didn't I by Mysterio 02/24/2012, 9:57pm PST NEW
            Re: The actual counterpart is spontaneous miscarriages. by Xytofor Zitowich 03/01/2012, 4:08am PST NEW
            Punishing Fornication (Martin v. Ziherl) by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 03/01/2012, 4:25am PST NEW
    I find it rather amusing by Oom Shnibble 03/01/2012, 7:26am PST NEW
        Shnibble, you didn't speak about film as a contraceptive by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 03/01/2012, 7:40am PST NEW
            Re: Shnibble, you didn't speak about film as a contraceptive by Oom Shnibble 03/01/2012, 7:54am PST NEW
                Re: Shnibble, you didn't speak about film as a contraceptive by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 03/04/2012, 7:01am PST NEW
 
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