Cuccinelli Files to Repeal Sodomy Ruling
Virginia Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has filed a petition with the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond last week asking the full 15-judge Virginia Supreme Court to reconsider a decision by a three-judge panel last month that overturned the state’s sodomy law, according to a report by Lou Chibarro in the Washington Blade.
The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on March 12 that a section of Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” statute that outlaws sodomy between consenting adults, gay or straight, is unconstitutional based on a U.S. Supreme Court “Lawrence Vs. Texas” decision in 2003. Cuccinelli filed the petition March 26 requesting an “en banc” hearing before the full court of 15 judges to reconsider the earlier ruling by the three-judge panel.
