The office of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said Wednesday that their petition asking for review of a case throwing out the state’s sodomy statute is “not about sexual orientation.” Cuccinelli, who is the Republican nominee for governor, asked the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a decision declaring the state’s sodomy law unconstitutional.
“This case is not about sexual orientation, but using current law to protect a 17 year-old girl from a 47 year-old sexual predator,” Caroline Gibson, deputy communications director in Cuccinelli’s office, told TPM in a statement. “We agree with the dissenting opinion that the petitioner was not entitled to federal habeas corpus relief and the full court should have the opportunity to decide this matter. The attorney general is committed to protecting Virginia’s children from predators who attempt to exploit them and rob them of their childhood.”
A three-judge panel threw out the anti-sodomy statute in March, saying it violated the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas. The case involved an adult male who solicited oral sex from a 17-year-old woman.
