Law in the United States
What the law says today, what it used to say, and the court rulings that changed it.
All topics · 11
Fornication Laws Still on the Books in the United States
As of October 2026, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi and Illinois still have statutes punishing fornication or unmarried cohabitation, and North Dakota keeps a narrow section bearing the name. After Lawrence v. Texas (2003), these laws are not considered enforceable against consenting adults in private. Massachusetts, Utah, Virginia, Idaho and Minnesota repealed theirs between 2018 and 2023.
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How Lawrence v. Texas Undermined Fornication Laws
Not directly. Lawrence v. Texas (June 26, 2003) struck down a Texas same-sex sodomy law, ruling 6-3, with five justices holding that the Due Process Clause protects private consensual conduct between adults, and overruled Bowers v. Hardwick. Justice Scalia's dissent listed fornication laws among those called into question, and courts and commentators now treat such laws as unenforceable.
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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 that it violated equal protection. The Court refused to believe the law aimed to deter fornication, then a 90-day misdemeanor in Massachusetts, and tied the right of privacy to the individual, married or single.
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Griswold v. Connecticut and the Birth of the Right to Privacy
Griswold v. Connecticut (June 7, 1965) struck down, by 7 votes to 2, a Connecticut ban on the use of contraceptives as applied to married couples, finding 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, statutes he treated as constitutional.
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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). But on January 13, 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.
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North Carolina's 1805 Law Against Unmarried Cohabitation
On paper, yes. North Carolina General Statute 14-184, traced to an 1805 act, makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a man and woman not married to each other to "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed and cohabit together." Prosecutions are rare, a Pender County Superior Court judge declared it unconstitutional in 2006, and a 2007 repeal bill died in committee.
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Mississippi's Unlawful Cohabitation Statute Explained
On paper, yes. Mississippi Code § 97-29-1 still punishes a man and woman who "unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication," with a fine of up to $500 each and up to six months in county jail. Habitual intercourse can be proved by circumstances. Prosecutions are rare, and Lawrence v. Texas casts doubt on its use against consenting adults.
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South Carolina's Adultery and Fornication Statutes
Yes, on paper. South Carolina Code § 16-15-60 still makes adultery and fornication crimes, punishable by a $100 to $500 fine, six months to one year in prison, or both. Under § 16-15-80, fornication means two unmarried people living together with intercourse, or having habitual intercourse without living together. The text dates from 1880.
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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 crime against nature. A state criminal justice subcommittee had concluded in 2021 that the laws on sex outside marriage conflicted with Lawrence v. Texas. Section 18-6603 now covers a different offense.
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Virginia's Fornication Law, From Martin v. Ziherl to Repeal
No. In Martin v. Ziherl, decided on January 14, 2005, the Supreme Court of Virginia held the state's fornication statute unconstitutional as applied to private, consensual sex between unmarried adults. The law, a Class 4 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250, stayed in the code until House Bill 245 repealed § 18.2-344, effective July 1, 2020.
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Is Cheating Illegal? Adultery Laws in the United States, State by State
Yes, in part. In November 2026, at least 15 states still list adultery, or living together in adultery, as a crime, from a $10 fine in Maryland to felonies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Prosecutions are rare and usually start with a spouse's complaint. New York, Minnesota, Idaho, Utah and Massachusetts repealed their laws between 2018 and 2024.
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