Lascivious behavior
Lascivious behavior is
Legal usage
In
For example, in 1896, lascivious cohabitation referred to the now-archaic crime of living with a member of the opposite sex and having premarital sex with him or her.[1] In 2015, the laws of three states of the United States (Florida, Michigan and Mississippi) still considered "lascivious cohabitation" as a crime.[2] In 2016, Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed into law SB 0498 which no longer makes "lascivious cohabitation" a crime.[3] In 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan signed into law SB 56 which no longer makes "lewd or lascivious cohabitation" a crime. [4]
In the 2000s, the term is often used as one of several adjectives to describe
In
Every obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance ... [i]s declared to be nonmailable matter and shall not be conveyed in the mails or delivered from any post office or by any letter carrier.[5]
"Lewd and lascivious" behavior has varying definitions across jurisdictions. Indecent exposure, for example, generally refers to the exposure of one's "private parts", which, as noted in a 1992 court case, depending on the jurisdiction, may or may not include one's buttocks, female breasts, or even pubic hair.[6] At that time, 22 states prohibited only indecent exposure of genitalia; "only three States (Indiana, Iowa, and New Mexico), would treat as indecent the intentional exposure of the genital area or pubic hair, and these jurisdictions do so by means of legislation which is explicit in its terms. It thus appears that the term 'indecent exposure' lacks a 'commonly understood meaning', when considered with respect to parts of the body other than the genitalia."[7]
Lechery
Lechery is a behavioral pattern that includes:
- Inordinate indulgence in sexual activity
- Unrestrained and promiscuous sexuality
- Immoderate indulgence of sexual desire
- Lewd and lustfulbehavior
Lechery is not the same as lust. Lust is an interior psychological state, the thinking about sex, the desire for it. Lechery is an outward behavior, a physical manifestation or behavior pattern of an interior condition of lust. Lust does not necessarily result in the action of lechery.[8]
See also
References
- ^ See e.g. Swearinger v. U.S., 161 U.S. 446 (1896).
- ^ Florida moves to repeal 1868 law banning 'sinful' cohabitation
- ^ "Senate Bill 0498 (2016) - The Florida Senate". www.flsenate.gov. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- ^ It's not illegal to live together as an unmarried couple anymore in Michigan
- ^ 18 U.S.C. § 1461, interpreted in Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day 370 U.S. 478 (1962), 482-484.
- ^ People v. Santorelli, 80 N.Y.2d 875, 882 (NY App. Ct. 1992).
- ^ Commonwealth v. Arthur, 420 Mass. 535 (Mass. Supreme Judicial Ct. 1995).
- ^ Pope John Paul II, Mutual Attraction Differs from Lust. L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 22 September 1980, p. 11. Available at http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2tb39.htm