Zoophilia & The Law - Laws Around The World Affecting Zoophiles

From Alt.sex.bestiality - revised 4 July, 1995 ----- Other Points on Laws: - Having sex with someone else's animal without the owner's permission is a crime against property, the same as if someone "borrowed" his horse to haul their carriage without his permission. Remember that horse thievery was a hangin' offense in the old West. - Sex in public is "open and gross lewdness." People have been prosecuted for ordinary sex in a fenced-in backyard and even in a bedroom with the shades up, on the basis that a child *could have* climbed the fence or looked in the window and seen something. - Sometimes prosecutors are imaginative, and will creatively apply irrelevant laws. For instance, statutory rape if the animal is less than 18 years old. - Exposing a child to bestiality is considered child abuse/sexual abuse in many states. If someone leaves a tape in a VCR and a child hits play and sees it, that may be considered exposure. - In many states even where bestiality is legal, it IS legally grounds for divorce. ================================================= VAR - Verification of information. Most state/countries laws are only located in that states/countries local libraries. So only some laws have been confirmed through research. Others are given by word of mouth and some have not been researched at all. C = Confirmed and verifyed laws. W = laws given by word of mouth (or computer) - = Laws not known. LAW - Is their a specific law against bestiality in that state/country. NONE = No specific law found against bestiality YES = Law found regarding bestiality. SN - Statute Number. If a law has been found this is the state/country's statute number it was found under. PEN - Penalty classification for violating the law. This may vary between states/countries. PT = Prison time STATE/COUNTRY VAR LAW SN PEN USA LAWS Alabama: C YES Code of Ala. @13A-6-63 "sodomy in 1st degree" (1994) criminal offense. Alaska: C NONE Arizona: C NONE Arkansas: C YES Ark. Stat. Ann. Criminal Offense: @13A-6-63 (1994) "sodomy in 1st degree" California: C YES Penal Code Section 286.5 Misdemeanor Colorado: C NONE Connecticut: C NONE Delaware: C YES 11 Del. C. @777 (1993) Class D Criminal felony. Florida: C NONE Georgia: C YES O.C.G.A. @16-6-6 (1994) 1-5 yr. jail sentence. Hawaii: C NONE Idaho: C YES Idaho Code @18-6605 "length of imprisonment (1994) in excess of 5 years is in discretion of court." Illinois: C YES 720 ILCS 5/12-12 (1994) Crime. Indiana: C YES Burn Ind. Code. Ann. @35-42-4-2 (1994) Iowa: C NONE Kansas: C YES K.S.A. @2103506 (1993) Aggravated crim sodomy security level2, felony Kentucky: C NONE Louisiana: C NONE Maine: C YES 17-A M.R.S. @ 251 (1994) Class C Crime; 3-5 yrs Maryland: C YES Unnatural/Perverted up to $1,000 fine, Sexual Acts Article 27, Max of 10 years PT Section 553 Massachusetts: C YES Mass. Ann. Laws. Jail sentence of not ch. 272 @34 (1994) more than 20 years Michigan: C YES MCL @750.185 (1992) Jail sentence not more than 15 years Minnessota: C YES Minn. Stat. @609.294, Either fine of not more (1993) than $3,000 or sentence not more than 1 year. Mississippi: C YES Miss. Code. Ann., Sentence of not more @97-29-59 than 10 years. Missouri: C NONE Montana: C YES Mont. Code. Ann., 10 year sentence and/or @45-5-505 (1994) $50,000 fine. Nebraska: C NONE Nevada: C NONE New Hampshire: C NONE New Jersey: C NONE New Mexico: C NONE New York: C YES NY CLS Penal @130.20 Class A misdemeanor. (1994) North Carolina: C YES N.C. Gen. Stat. @14-177 Class I felony. 3-10 yrs (1994) North Dakota: C YES N.D. Cent. Code Various penalties, & can @12.1-20-03, 12.1-20-07, be considered either 12.1-20-12(1993) "gross sexual imposition" "sexual assault" or "deviate sexual act" Ohio: C NONE Oklahoma: C YES 21 Okl. St. @886 (1994) "imprisonment not to exceed 10 years" Oregon: C NONE Pennsylvania: C YES 18 Pa. C. S. @3101, 3123 and 3124 (1994) Rhode Island: C YES R.I. Gen. Laws @11-10-1 7-20 years. (1993) South Carolina: C YES S.C. Code Ann. 5 yrs jail and/or fine @16-15-120 (1993) of at least $500 South Dakota: C NONE Tennessee: C YES Tenn. Code. Ann. @39-13-501 (1994) Texas: C NONE Utah: C YES Bestiality 76-9-301.8 Class B Misdemeanor Vermont: C NONE Virginia: C YES Va. Code. Ann. Class 6 Felony @18.2-361 (1994) Washington: C NONE Washington DC: C YES DC Code @22-3502 (1994) Fine not more than $1000 ("Sexual Psychopath" and/or sentence of not chapter) more than 10 yrs West Virginia: C NONE Wisconsin: C YES Wis. State. @944.17 None listed (1993) Wyoming: C NONE ================================================ Canada: C YES Criminal Code of Canada Approx 10 years Section 153 Denmark: W NONE Finland: W NONE - - New Zealand: C YES Crimes Act of 1964 Maximum 7 years PT Section 143 & 144 Switzerland: W NONE United Kingdom: C YES Sexual Offences Act of Life imprisonment 1956, Section 12(1) (typically 30 years) Sexual Offences Act of 1967, Section 3(1) ========================== 1 - Introduction - ------------ There is no *federal* law which prohibits sex between humans and animals. There are a few federal laws, however, which list bestiality, along with many other forms of sex, which are prohibited when involving children (18 USCS @2256, 3509 (1994) ). 2 - The Roth Test - ------------- In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court developed the "Roth Test" to define "obscenity." The Roth Test requires that the court ask "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest" (Roth v. United States, 354 US 476, 1). Since the Roth decision, the Supreme Court has added that such material must be utterly without redeeming social values. 3 - United States Code Chapter 71; Obscenity - ---------------------------------------- Section Content ------- ------- 1460 Possession with intent to sell, and sale, of obscene matter on Federal property 1461 Mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter 1462 Importation or transportation of obscene matters 1463 Mailing indecent matter on wrappers or envelopes 1464 Broadcasting obscene language 1465 Transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution 1466 Engaging in the business of selling or transferring obscene matter 1467 Criminal forfeiture 1468 Distributing obscene material by cable or subscription tv 1469 Presumptions In Armijo v. U.S., 384 F2d 694, The court ruled that portions of letters describing in detail "degenerate bestiality" were not merely obscene but represented hard-core pornography. The federal code most damaging to zoophiliac freedom is 18 USCS @ 1461, which prohibits obscene books as mailable. In the case U.S. v. Miller 455 F.2d 899, this statute was applied by court to find that books describing bestiality between women and a dog were "unmailable." Now remember the Roth Test...So now you know that you can't mail, import, transport, broadcast, transport, sell, transfer, or distribute via cable or subscription televison, obscene material. Criminal forfeiture? Guess what, Code 1467 says that the courts can take any property that involved the obscenity law being broken. This could be your VCR, your car, your computer, etcetera. You forfeited them when you used them to break the law. Presumptions? Code 1469 means that if there is any hint that the material was made somewhere else, be it direct evidence or even circumstantial evidence, then the courts will immediately assume it was transported and therefore violated Code 1462 as well. ----- Brought to you by - The 'Lectric Law Library The Net's Finest Legal Resource For Legal Pros & Laypeople Alike. http://www.lectlaw.com