Nonstandard Deviations

Cathy Young in Reason on Nonstandard Deviations:

It's amazing to think that in the United States in the 21st century, you can get arrested for something you do in your bedroom with a willing adult partner. But 13 states still criminalize some types of sexual acts; in four of them, "deviate sexual intercourse" is prohibited only between people of the same sex. (In Massachusetts, a colonial-era law prohibiting "the abominable and detestable crime against nature" is likely to be repealed by a bill approved by the legislature's Criminal Justice Committee this past March; a month earlier, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the law does not cover private consensual acts.) Now, by agreeing to hear the case of two Texas men prosecuted for violating that state's sodomy law, the Supreme Court will tackle the constitutionality of these laws for the second time in less than 20 years. If conservatives are principled in their opposition to intrusive government and their support for equal rights rather than special rights for any group, they should be leading the charge for repeal.

Cathy is of course correct. If conservatives were principled they'd be leading the charge to oppose such intrusive laws that just allow more government control over private property. The key word, however, is principled. Conservatives don't have anymore authority in the principles department than liberals, regardless of how many times they've spouted slogans like "get goverment off our backs."

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