Military Court Accepts NCSF's Amicus Brief

Military Court Accepts NCSF’s Amicus Brief in Support of Consensual Nonmonogamy

April 24, 2014 – Washington, DC – The Navy and Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals has accepted NCSF’s amicus (“friend of the court”) brief advising the court that prosecutors are avoiding the Supreme Court decision, made in Lawrence v. Texas, that moral judgment is not a basis for criminalizing consensual sexual conduct, and that consensual sex should only be criminalized if that conduct is injurious or goes against a valid societal interest.

In the appellate case, it was argued that the activities were “public” even though the sexual behavior was not observed by anyone and took place in a bedroom in a military barracks. The marine, who is appealing his case, engaged in a consensual threesome, and because of that was convicted of adultery, attempted consensual sodomy and indecent conduct (i.e., undefined sexual conduct inconsistent with "common propriety").

NCSF also argued that military law is out of sync with U.S. Constitutional law and societal mores, especially when it comes to consensual sexual behaviors. Dick Cunningham, NCSF's Legal Counsel, who prepared and filed the brief, said, “This is an important brief in support of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision—Lawrence v. Texas. Prosecutors and courts have no right to impose a narrow view of sexual morality on consenting adults.”