2022 - SB 1325 Repealing Idaho's Antiquated Crimes against Nature Statute

SB 1325 would repeal Idaho’s Crimes Against Nature statute, which criminalizes all consensual oral and anal sex. The bill would also repeal the unenforceable offenses of Adultery and Fornication.

SB 1325 would repeal Idaho’s Crimes Against Nature statute, which criminalizes all consensual oral and anal sex. The bill would also repeal the unenforceable offenses of Adultery and Fornication.

The Crimes Against Nature statute was at the center of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other legal partners in 2020, Doe v. Wasden. Idaho State Police forced Idaho resident “John Doe” to register as a sex offender for a previous out-of-state conviction for having oral sex over 20 years ago. In 2020, Idaho was one of four states continuing to enforce its Crimes Against Nature law requiring people with convictions of oral and anal sex to register with the Idaho Sexual Offender Registry.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas held that anti-sodomy laws, like Idaho’s Crimes Against Nature statute, violates constitutional protections under the Fourteenth Amendment. The statute is homophobic and facially unconstitutional. SB 1325 is a welcomed correction to an antiquated and harmful law.