Court Opinion

ID: 9536958
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:10:12.354625+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:55:37.431508
License: Public Domain

SUTIN, Judge (dissenting). I dissent. The sodomy statute, § 40A-9-6, N.M.S.A.1953 (Repl.Vol. 6), is unconstitutional and void because it regulates private sexual relations between two consenting adults, including husband and wife, both of which adults may be principals. “Force is not an element of the crime.” Washington v. Rodriguez, 82 N.M. 428, 483 P.2d 309 (Ct.App.1971). The Model Penal Code of the American Law Institute, 1962, § 213.2 suggests a proper sodomy statute. Thus far it has been adopted by the States of Connecticut (Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-65 et seq., particularly §§ 53a-75, 53a-76, 53a-77 [1958 Rev. 1969 Supp.], as amended, 1971 Conn.Public Acts, P.A. 871, §§ 19, 127, 128), Idaho (Idaho Session Laws 1971, ch. 143, § 1, ch. 9, § 18-901 et seq.), Colorado (Session Laws of Colo.1971, ch. 121, §§ 40-3-403 through 40-3-406, 40-3-410, effective July 1, 1972), and Oregon (Oregon Laws 1971, ch. 743, Art. 13, §§ 104-120). It was adopted partially by the State of New York (Penal Code, McKinney’s Consol. Laws, c. 40, § 130.00 et seq.), and Illinois (Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 38, § 11-1 et seq. [1967 Comp.]). Minnesota has amended its sodomy statutes to provide a lesser penalty for consensual acts. See Minn.Stat. 1969 Comp. § 609.293. The Model Penal Code provision is being considered by other states drafting criminal codes. A sodomy statute for New Mexico has been suggested in 8 Natural Resources J. 531 at 540. Trejo would be guilty under either sugT gested statute. The Model Penal Code prohibits deviant sexual intercourse only (1) when that act is accomplished through force; (2) when it involves an adult coiv rupting a minor; or (3) when the act is accompanied by a public offense. None of these elements appear in the New Mexico sodomy statute. In the last ten years many law review articles and some books have been written unanimously condemning the present statute and its antecedents. Only twenty articles have been reviewed and are set forth as an Appendix. Professor Walter Barnett of the University of New Mexico Law School is now preparing drafts of a book to be entitled “Sodomy and the Constitution” which covers this subject matter. The present statute, suggested by the New Mexico Supreme Court in 1953, comes from Manual for Courts-Martial, U.S. Army, 1959. Bennett v. Abram, 57 N.M. 28, 253 P.2d 316 (1953). The New Mexico sodomy statute reads as follows: Sodomy consists of a person intentionally taking into his or her mouth or anus the sexual organ of any other person or animal or intentionally placing his or her sexual organ in the mouth or anus of any other person or animal, or coitus with an animal. Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime of sodomy. Both parties may be principals. Whoever commits sodomy is guilty of a third degree felony. A good treatise on the subject of sodomy can be found in Harris v. State, 457 P.2d 638 (Alaska 1969). The New Mexico statute is unconstitutional for the following reasons: 1. It invades the right of privacy which is a right unspecified in the federal Constitution but it is a right “within the penumbra of specific guaranties of the Bill of Rights” including the IX Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965); Cotner v. Henry, 394 F.2d 873 (7th Cir. 1968); Buchanan v. Batchelor, 308 F.Supp. 729 (D.C.Texas 1970), vacated and remanded for reconsideration of the jurisdiction of the U. S. District Court to grant equitable relief, Wade v. Buchanan, 401 U.S. 989, 91 S.Ct. 1221, 1222, 28 L.Ed.2d 526. See 49 Texas L.Rev. 400 (Jan.1971); the dissents in Dixon v. State, Ind., 268 N.E.2d 84 (1971); Miller v. State, Ind., 268 N.E.2d 299 (1971). 2. The sodomy statute violates the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This means at least that neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church, nor pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1, 67 S.Ct. 504, 91 L. Ed. 711 (1947), reh. den. 330 U.S. 855, 67 S.Ct. 962, 91 L.Ed. 1297 (1947). ' The New Mexico sodomy statute reflects a Judeo-Christian principle with origins in Genesis 19:5-8, 24 — 26; Deuteronomy 23:17; Leviticus 18:22-23, 20-16. Sodomy is deemed sinful and wrongful as a matter of theology. The prohibition is religious in origin and no secular justification exists for enforcement of this religious principle beyond the areas set forth in the Model Penal Code. The legislature would not have the power to make abstinence a felony because it is a religious doctrine. Contraception is constitutional. Griswold v. Connecticut, supra. Neither the legislature nor the courts have the power to impose with ecclesiastical fury religious principles upon ordinary, innocent adults. For example, in Berryman v. State, 283 P.2d 558, 563 (Okl.Cr.1955), the court said the statute is not explicit because “the very alleged sexual behavior is such as should not be described among Christians.” [Emphasis added.] For decades, this subject has been considered “revolting” and “disgusting” and not subject to discussion in court opinions because of its religious nature. Sodomy does not become a criminal act until the statute inserts elements which make human conduct a crime as set forth in the Model Penal Code. The sodomy statute is unconstitutional and void because it is vague, overbroad, uncertain, and is an unreasonable exercise of the police power of the state. See State v. Prince, 52 N.M. 15, 189 P.2d 993 (1948); State v. Dennis, 80 N.M. 262, 454 P.2d 276 (Ct.App.1969); State v. Sanchez, 82 N.M. 585, 484 P.2d 1295 (Ct.App.1971), dissenting opinion; State v. Putman, 78 N.M. 552, 434 P.2d 77 (Ct.App.1967). In State v. Putman, supra, a dissenting opinion established that three appellate judges could not agree on whether the defendant’s conduct was covered by the sodomy statute. If this uncertainty exists, a penal statute is in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States because it deprives a person of due process. State v. Prince, supra. A good definition of public policy was adopted in Barwin v. Reidy, 62 N.M. 183, 307 P.2d 175 (1957). It is “uncertain and fluctuating, varying, with the changing economic needs, social customs, and moral aspirations of a people.” Appellate courts should not declare public policy without “ ‘the clearest reasons and most pressing necessity.’ ” A review of books and articles disclose many sound reasons which declare the present statute contrary to public policy. Public abhorrence of sexual deviation and private morals are not properly within the domain of the criminal law. Judge Learned Hand once wrote “Sodomy is a matter of morals * * * not something for which people should be put in prison.” These deviations are widely practiced by married couples and encouraged by modern authorities on marriage. Authors of medical, psychological and sociological books, as well as members of the medical profession, are all placed in the role of advocating the commission of a felony. No one has ever proven that the various acts involved are physically harmful between two consenting adults engaged in private sexual relations, nor that these acts have a deleterious effect on society. Marriage contemplates a right of privacy older than the Bill of Rights, and the sanctity of this relationship must be protected from intrusion. Doesn’t it seem odd that the statute allows the state to punish consenting adults for private sexual deviations, and married people for the private use of their marital intimacy even though they seek stability instead of divorce? In denying consensual private sex relations between adults, the legislature makes criminals out of a large section of ordinary, normal people in New Mexico who have left the biblical text and seek contentment under modern professional guidance. Public policy cannot sanction this type of legislation. In Honselman v. People, 168 Ill. 172, 48 N.E. 304 (1897), in referring to sodomy, the court said, “The existence of such an offense is a disgrace to human nature.” In 1961, the Illinois legislature removed private consensual sodomy from the category of crime. In Indiana, the Supreme Court supported a plea of guilty to a charge that the defendant committed the “abominable and detestable crime against nature with a beast: to wit a chicken” ! In Perkins v. State, 234 F.Supp. 333 (W.D.N.C.1964), the judge said: “[P]utting Perkins into the North Carolina Prison system is a little like throwing Brer Rabbit into the briarpatch.” The social revolution on the subject of private consensual sexual relations between two consenting adults has begun legally in the courts and in the legislature. New Mexico should follow this trend. APPENDIX Evans, et al., “The Crimes Against Nature,” 16 Journal of Public Law 159 (1967). Goodman, “The Bedroom Should not Be Within the Province of the Law,” 4 Cal. West.L.Rev. 115 (1968). Hefner, “The Legal Enforcement of Morality,” 40 U.Colo.L.Rev. 199 (1968). Hollis, “Criminal Law — Sexual Offenses ■ — Sodomy-—-Cunnilingus,” 8 Natural Resources J. 531 (1968). Johnsen, “Sodomy Statutes — A Need for Change,” 13 S.D.L.Rev. 384 (1968). Jones, “Sodomy — Crime or Sin?” 12 U.Fla.L.Rev. 83 (1959). Spence, “The Law of Crime Against Nature,” 32 N.C.L.Rev-. 312 (1954). Cantor, “Deviation and the Criminal Law,” 55 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 441 (1964). Slovenko, “Sexual Deviation: Response to an Adaptational Crisis,” 40 U.Colo.L. Rev. 222 (1968). Note, 49 Tex.L.Rev. 400 (Jan.1971). Joplin, "Criminal Law: An Examination of the Oklahoma Laws Concerning Sexual Behavior,” 23 Okl.L.Rev. 459 (1970). Foster & Freed, “Offenses Against the Family,” 32 U.M.K.C.L.Rev. 33 (1964). . Lamb, “Criminal Law — Consensual Homosexual Behavior — The Need for Legislative Reform,” 57 Ky.L.J. 591. Farrar, “Constitutional Law — State Interference with Private, Consensual Marital Sexual Relations,” 23 U.Miami L.Rev. 231 '(1968). Moran, “Sex Offenses and Penal Code Revision in Michigan,” 14 Wayne L.Rev. 934 (1968). Harris, “Private Consensual Adult Behavior: The Requirement of Harm to Others in the Enforcement of Morality.” 14 U.C.L.A.L.Rev. 581 (1967). Couris, “Sexual Freedom For Consenting Adults — Why Not?” 2 Pac.L.J. 206 (1971). ' ■ Fisher, “The Sex Offender Provisions of the Proposed New Maryland Criminal Code: Should Private, Consenting Adult Homosexual Behavior be Excluded?” 30 Md.L.Rev. 91 (1970). Ploscowe, “Report to the Hague: Suggested Revisions of Penal Law Relating to Sex Crimes and Crimes Against the Family.” 50 Cornell L.Q. 425 (1965). Note, “Deviate Sexual Behavior Under the New Illinois Criminal Code,” 1965 Wash.U.L.Q. 220.