South Carolina man sues state over wrongful sodomy and sex offender conviction
By Jordan Robledo
A gay man is suing the state of South Carolina after being forced to register as a sex offender due to his past sodomy conviction.
The anonymous individual, who goes by John Doe, was convicted for sodomy after having consensual gay sex in 2001.
At the time, the state enforced a "buggery" law that prohibited individuals from having same-sex relations.
Due to the law, John was found guilty and forced to register as a sex offender.
According to a report from the Post and Courier, his partner was also convicted of the same crime.
In 2006, John received a pardon for the verdict after the US Supreme Court deemed the anti-LGBTQ+ law as unconstitutional in 2003.
Even though he was eventually exempted from his crime, he is still required to register as a sex offender to this day.
Now, John is challenging the state and its former legislation with a new lawsuit.
On 22 December 2021, attorney Allen Chaney from the ACLU of South Carolina and attorney Matthew Strugar submitted a lawsuit on the unidentified man's behalf.
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In the paperwork, John said that his continued sex offender status has infringed upon his 14th amendment right.
The suit also requested that he, plus the other individuals who were forced to register under the same sodomy conviction, be removed from the sex offender list.
South Carolina is one out of three states that still require convicted individuals under the anti-sodomy legislation to still register.
According to the document, there are around 18 people who have registered as sex offenders due to the states archaic law.
In a statement, Chaney gave insight into the importance of the lawsuit and called the law "deeply troubling."
"South Carolina is the last state in the country to require sex offender registration for pre-Lawrence sodomy convictions," he said.
"This practice needlessly subjects law abiding citizens to the horrors of the sex offender registry and demonstrates a deeply troubling animosity by the State towards the gay community."
Strugar echoed similar sentiments in his own statement and described the state's current regulations as "unconstitutional."
"It is unconscionable that in 2021, South Carolina would still put people convicted of having gay sex on the sex offender registry," Strugar said.
"This kind of overt, state-sanctioned homophobia would have been surprising 30 years ago. Today it is shocking. And it is unconstitutional."