Regulating the Sanctuary: The Dangers of Anti-Cohabitation Laws

Abstract

Non-married cohabitant households total approximately 1.01 million in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Virginia — the states that still retain some form of anti-cohabitation statute. This means at least 2 million Americans, on a daily basis, are subject not only to criminal sanctions, including possible prison time, but also to some of the other harsh penalties discussed in this Comment. Part II of this Comment begins by laying out the remaining and recently repealed anti-cohabitation laws. The second portion of Part II deconstructs those statutes into three parts for easier comparison and discussion. In Part III, this Comment discusses the biggest problem with the continued “enforcement” of these anti-cohabitation laws — secondary enforcement. Part IV begins with a detailed summary of both the majority and concurring opinions in the Lawrence v. Texas case of 2003. The remainder of Part IV discusses the application of Lawrence to the constitutionality of anti-cohabitation laws. In Part V, I conclude that anti-cohabitation laws are unconstitutional and must be repealed or declared as such in order to avoid the continuing and devastating problem of secondary enforcement.