Sodomy laws still exist on the books in twelve states, but none of them can be enforced. The Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas held that criminalizing private, consensual sexual conduct between adults violates the Fourteenth Amendment, and that ruling applies in every state regardless of what the local statute says. Looking at sodomy laws by state today is less a map of where the conduct is illegal and more a map of which legislatures have declined to clean up their criminal codes.
The Twelve States That Still Have Sodomy Statutes
The following states have not repealed their sodomy laws, even though they cannot be used to prosecute anyone:1Justia. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Texas
These are sometimes called zombie laws. They appear in the criminal code, they describe conduct as a crime, and they still carry statutory penalties on paper. In every real sense, they are dead letters. The statutes survive because repeal requires an affirmative legislative vote, and in some states that vote carries a political cost that elected officials prefer to avoid.
Why None of These Laws Can Be Enforced
Lawrence v. Texas arose when Houston police entered John Lawrence’s apartment on a false weapons report and arrested him and another man under Texas’s “Homosexual Conduct” law. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that adults have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in their private, consensual intimate conduct, and that moral disapproval alone cannot justify criminalizing it. Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion overruled the Court’s earlier contrary decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, writing that “Bowers was not correct when it was decided, is not correct today, and is hereby overruled.”1Justia. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
Under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI, a Supreme Court ruling on constitutional rights overrides any conflicting state law.2Congress.gov. ArtVI.C2.1 Overview of Supremacy Clause A prosecutor who tried to charge someone under one of the twelve remaining statutes would see the case dismissed. That is true whether the state law targets same-sex conduct specifically or applies to everyone.
The practical confusion is real, though. Someone reading their state’s criminal code could reasonably think they are at risk, and the chilling effect falls hardest on people who do not know about Lawrence. Advocacy groups have pushed for formal repeal in each of the twelve states with limited success.
Did Dobbs Change Anything?
The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned the constitutional right to abortion and prompted immediate questions about whether Lawrence was next. The majority opinion said it was addressing abortion only. Justice Thomas’s concurrence took a different position, writing that the Court should “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” which he called “demonstrably erroneous decisions.”3Supreme Court of the United States. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392 (2022)
No case challenging Lawrence has reached the Court since Dobbs, and the current legal position is unchanged: consensual sodomy between adults cannot be prosecuted anywhere in the United States. The reason the twelve unrepealed statutes matter is that if Lawrence were ever overturned, those laws would spring back into force without any new legislative action. That is why repeal campaigns continue in the states that still have them.
If You Were Convicted Under an Old Sodomy Law
Lawrence stopped future prosecutions. It did nothing automatic for people already convicted. Those convictions remain on criminal records unless they are vacated, expunged, or pardoned through a separate legal process, and the downstream consequences can be serious.
Sex Offender Registration
Federal law under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act does not require registration for consensual sexual conduct between adults where neither person is under the custodial authority of the other. States can and do go beyond the federal minimum, and some have required registration for people convicted under old sodomy statutes. In Louisiana, a federal court held in 2012 that requiring people convicted under the state’s “Crime Against Nature by Solicitation” law to register as sex offenders, when those convicted of identical conduct under the prostitution statute were not required to register, violated the Equal Protection Clause, and the court ordered the plaintiffs removed from the registry.4Center for Constitutional Rights. Judge Orders Plaintiffs Removed from Sex Offender Registry
Anyone currently on a sex offender registry solely because of a consensual sodomy conviction should speak with a criminal defense attorney about removal. The legal grounds vary by state, but equal protection arguments and the underlying statute’s constitutional invalidity give real leverage.
Expungement
Clearing a sodomy conviction is often harder than it should be. Many states broadly exclude sex offenses from their expungement statutes, and old sodomy convictions are frequently categorized as sex offenses in state record systems regardless of whether the underlying conduct was consensual between adults. The conviction rests on a law the Supreme Court struck down, but the administrative category may still block routine record-clearing.
Court filing fees for expungement petitions generally run between roughly $50 and $400 depending on the jurisdiction. Attorney time is usually the larger cost, because challenging the classification often requires briefing and a hearing. Some states and legal aid organizations offer free or reduced-cost help for people trying to clear convictions based on conduct that is no longer criminal.
Employment, Licensing, and Background Checks
A sodomy conviction on a background check can block jobs, professional licenses, and housing. Some states have passed clean slate laws that automatically seal certain old convictions after a waiting period, though sex offense exclusions may complicate eligibility. A growing number of states have also moved licensing boards away from vague “good moral character” standards and toward individualized assessments tied to offenses directly related to the profession. Under that kind of framework, a decades-old consensual sodomy conviction is unlikely to meet the “directly related” threshold for most jobs.
If you are preparing to apply for a license, check whether your state offers a preliminary determination process. Some boards will tell you in advance whether your record creates a barrier before you pay for and submit a full application.
Military Convictions Have Their Own Path
Service members convicted under the former Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice are on a separate track from civilian defendants. Article 125 prohibited “unnatural carnal copulation” among service members, and the military kept enforcing that prohibition after Lawrence by relying on good-order and unit-cohesion justifications. Congress narrowed the article in 2013 to cover only forcible sodomy and bestiality, and the 2016 Military Justice Act eliminated the sodomy article entirely. Article 125 of the UCMJ now covers kidnapping.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC Ch. 47 Uniform Code of Military Justice
The 2024 Presidential Pardon
On June 26, 2024, President Biden issued a full, unconditional pardon to service members convicted under the former Article 125 for consensual, private conduct with another adult. The pardon covers qualifying court-martial convictions between May 31, 1951, and December 26, 2013.6Department of Veterans Affairs. Presidential Proclamation on Certain Violations of Article 125 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
The pardon does not reach conduct involving any of the following:
- Any act with a person under 18
- Positions of trust over recruits or trainees, or situations where the other person may not have felt free to refuse
- Fraternization by commissioned or warrant officers in violation of service customs
- Prostitution, forcible acts, or bestiality
- Acts at locations where intimate activity was forbidden
- Violation of a lawful order
- Adultery with another service member’s spouse
Eligible individuals apply for a certificate of pardon through the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.6Department of Veterans Affairs. Presidential Proclamation on Certain Violations of Article 125 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
Discharge Upgrades Are a Separate Step
The pardon by itself does not change a less-than-honorable discharge. That requires a separate application to the applicant’s branch Board for Correction of Military or Naval Records, filed on DD Form 149. The pardon certificate can be submitted as evidence of probable error or injustice, but the applicant carries the burden of persuading the board. Federal law sets a three-year filing deadline from when the applicant discovered the error, and the boards may waive late filings in the interest of justice.6Department of Veterans Affairs. Presidential Proclamation on Certain Violations of Article 125 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
The distinction matters because veterans benefits, including healthcare, education, and home loan eligibility, depend on discharge status. A pardon removes the criminal conviction. The bad discharge, and everything that flows from it, stays in place until the board acts.