Law in the United States
What the law says today, what it used to say, and the court rulings that changed it.
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Fornication Laws Still on the Books in the United States
A handful of states still list fornication or unmarried cohabitation as a misdemeanor, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mississippi. These laws are effectively unenforceable for private conduct between consenting adults after Lawrence v. Texas (2003). Several states, among them Utah, Virginia, Idaho and Minnesota, have repealed theirs since 2019.
View the topic →How Lawrence v. Texas Undermined Fornication Laws
Not directly. Lawrence v. Texas (June 26, 2003) struck down a Texas same-sex sodomy law, holding that the Due Process Clause protects private consensual conduct between adults, and overruled Bowers v. Hardwick. Justice Scalia's dissent warned that laws against fornication could not survive this reasoning, and legal commentators now treat such laws as unenforceable.
View the topic →Eisenstadt v. Baird: Contraception, Unmarried Couples and the Fornication Law
In Eisenstadt v. Baird (March 22, 1972), the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law that limited contraceptives to married people, finding it violated equal protection. The Court doubted that deterring fornication, then a misdemeanor in Massachusetts, explained the law, and stated that privacy belongs to the individual, married or single.
View the topic →Griswold v. Connecticut and the Birth of the Right to Privacy
Griswold v. Connecticut (June 7, 1965) struck down a Connecticut ban on contraceptive use by married couples, locating a right of marital privacy in the "penumbras" of the Bill of Rights. Justice Goldberg's concurrence noted that Connecticut separately prohibited adultery and fornication, arguing the state could protect marital fidelity without entering the marital bedroom.
View the topic →Georgia's Fornication Statute and the In re J.M. Ruling
Georgia's code still defines fornication as voluntary intercourse by an unmarried person, punishable as a misdemeanor (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-18). In January 2003, in In re J.M., the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the state constitution's right to privacy bars prosecution for private, unforced, non-commercial sex between people legally able to consent.
View the topic →North Carolina's 1805 Law Against Unmarried Cohabitation
On paper, yes. North Carolina General Statute 14-184, dating to 1805, makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for an unmarried man and woman to "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed and cohabit together." Prosecutions are rare, a county superior court judge has ruled it unconstitutional, and lawmakers tabled a repeal bill in 2007.
View the topic →Mississippi's Unlawful Cohabitation Statute Explained
Mississippi Code § 97-29-1 still punishes a man and woman who "unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication," with fines up to $500 each and up to six months in county jail. Habitual intercourse can be shown by circumstances. Like similar laws, it is widely considered unenforceable against consenting adults after Lawrence v. Texas.
View the topic →South Carolina's Adultery and Fornication Statutes
South Carolina's code still makes adultery and fornication crimes (§ 16-15-60). Fornication means two unmarried people living together and having intercourse, or having habitual intercourse without living together (§ 16-15-80). The listed penalty is a $100 to $500 fine, six months to a year in prison, or both. The text dates to 1880.
View the topic →How Idaho Repealed Its Fornication and Adultery Laws in 2022
No. Senate Bill 1325, signed on March 22, 2022 and effective July 1, 2022, repealed Idaho Code § 18-6601 (adultery) and § 18-6603 (fornication), along with the crimes-against-nature statute. A state criminal justice subcommittee had concluded in 2021 that both laws were unconstitutional after Lawrence v. Texas. The number 18-6603 now designates a different offense.
View the topic →Virginia's Fornication Law, From Martin v. Ziherl to Repeal
No. In Martin v. Ziherl (January 14, 2005), the Supreme Court of Virginia held the state's fornication statute unconstitutional in a civil suit over a sexually transmitted infection. The law remained in the code, punishable by a fine of up to $250, until House Bill 245 repealed § 18.2-344 in 2020 (Acts 2020, c. 122).
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