VA Supreme Court invalidates "singles sex law" News
VA Supreme Court invalidates "singles sex law"

[JURIST] In a unanimous ruling Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court [official website] struck down a state law prohibiting consensual sex between unmarried people. Read the opinion [PDF]. The justices based their decision on Lawrence v. Texas [ruling], the 2003 US Supreme Court case voiding a state anti-sodomy law. As in that case, the VA Supreme Court found the state law unconstitutional as it infringed the Due Process rights of adults to engage in private sexual conduct. The law against sex between consensual non-married individuals – Virginia Code § 18.2-344 – has been on the books for over 200 years but has not been enforced since 1847. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.