Why do so many states still have anti-sodomy laws?

A decade after the Supreme Court effectively banned such laws, more than a dozen states still have these rules on the books

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

A federal appeals court recently struck down Virginia's surviving sodomy law, which banned certain consensual sex acts for both gay and straight couples. Now, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is asking the court to hear the case again, a request that is drawing a strong backlash from the LGBT community.

Cuccinelli isn't the only lawmaker who supports legislating consensual sexual behavior: 13 other states have sodomy laws on the books. And even though the Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that such laws are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, they are still used to throw Americans in jail.

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Dana Liebelson is a reporter for Mother Jones. A graduate of George Washington University, she has worked for a variety of advocacy organizations in the District, including the Project on Government Oversight, International Center for Journalists, Rethink Media, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Change.org. She speaks Mandarin and German and plays violin in the D.C.-based Indie rock band Bellflur.