19th Century
In 1850, a common-law statute was installed in the territory of California, providing for the illegalization of sodomy and setting the penalty at five years to life. An 1855 law expanded the crime of sodomy to include "assault with an intent to commit" sodomy, penalizing the crime with 1–14 years imprisonment.
A new criminal code, passed in 1872, retained the prior restrictions on sodomy without substantial change, but replaced common-law assumptions regarding "crimes against nature" with more explicit language regarding sodomy. The first victory in a sodomy case under the new code was People v. Moore (1894), when William Moore, who had been convicted of sodomy without an attorney to speak on his behalf and was sentenced to 41 years in prison, had his conviction overturned on appeal to the California Supreme Court. The Court ruled that Moore had not been notified of his legal right to cross-examine or challenge potential jurors.
Other victories for defendants accused of sodomy were People v. Hickey (1895), in which the Supreme Court struck down a sodomy conviction because the prior trial court did not inform the jury that an assault to commit sodomy could only be considered a simple assault, and People v. Boyle (1897), which ruled that fellatio did not constitute a "crime against nature" (as per a prior case in Texas).
Read more about this topic: LGBT History In California
Famous quotes containing the word century:
“So the people will pay the penalty for their kings’ presumption, who, by devising evil, turn justice from her path with tortuous speech.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)