Legal Issues

This faq has been slightly reformatted by Valadan. All information is still present, I have merely cleaned it up a little for web viewing. Enjoy!


Alt.sex.bestiality P.I.P.s, Version 1.00, Revised 4 July, 1995

Introduction

Suggestions for finding laws not listed here:

  1. Go to your local library and ask where your countries statues or laws are.

  2. Look through the statues volumes for the ones labeled General Index.

  3. Open up the volume(s) and look-up the heading "Animals" look and see if that section contains a sub-heading of "Bestiality" also check under the sub-heading "Crimes & Offences" and under that heading search for "Sexual Abuse" or "Sexually Assaulting Animals" You might also look up the sub-heading "Cruelty" to see if it has anything.

    Look up the heading "Bestiality"

    Look up the heading "Sexual Offences" look for the sub-heading of "Bestiality" & "Animal Contact" & "Sexually Assaulting Animals" You might also find it under the sub-heading "Unnatural/perverted acts" or "Buggery"

    There is also a small chance you may find something under the humane laws headings, and you may also want to check any other sub-headings that you suspect may contain information on bestiality.

  4. Record the statue number under the subheading. It may be in various forms: $$ ##.##.### or ##-##-##.### or ###.### or others.

  5. On the back of the state statue volumes you will find Title or Chapter numbers in the form: ## to ##. These numbers are different from the volume numbers. They usually will correspond to the statue's Title or Chapter numbers.

    Example:

                    ##.##.###
                    `| |____|
      Title or Chapter'   L Section
    

  6. Find the volume that contains the Title number that is the same as the first number in the statue number.

  7. If you can not find the law, then it may be that your area does not have any specific law about bestiality. However, this does not mean the your area can't charge a person under another law that may consider fits the situation such as indecent exposure, cruelty to animals, or another law.

Other Points on Laws:

State laws in the U.S.

DISCLAIMER: Neither Dillillith, Shuunka Tanka, Phalinx, Philo Therion, Valadan, Steppenwolf, the Satyrs, nor MegaDog are responsible for any errors in this list. So, if anyone is aware of any error then please post and point out the error. If you are leery, then take the responsibility yourself and go to your local library to look it up yourself. Thanks.

StateVarLawStatutePenalty
AlabamaCYES Code of Ala. @13A-6-63 (1994)"Sodomy in the 1st degree" criminal offense.
AlaskaCNONE
ArizonaCNONE
ArkansasCYES Ark. Stat. Ann. @13A-6-63 (1994)Criminal Offense: "sodomy in 1st degree"
CaliforniaCYES Penal Code Section 286.5 Misdemeanor
ColoradoCNONE
ConnecticutCNONE
DelawareCYES 11 Del. C. @777 (1993) Class D Criminal felony.
FloridaCNONE
GeorgiaCYES O.C.G.A. @16-6-6 (1994)1-5 yr. jail sentence.
HawaiiCNONE
IdahoCYES Idaho Code @18-6605 "length of imprisonment in excess of 5 years is left to discretion of court."
IllinoisCYES 720 ILCS 5/12-12 (1994)Crime.
IndianaCYES Burn Ind. Code. Ann. @35-42-4-2 (1994)
IowaCNONE
KansasCYES K.S.A. @2103506 (1993) Aggravated criminal sodomy security level 2, felony
KentuckyCNONE
LouisianaCNONE
MaineCYES17-A M.R.S. @ 251 (1994)Class C Crime; 3-5 years
MarylandCYESUnnatural/Perverted Sexual Acts Article 27, Section 553up to $1,000 fine, Max of 10 years PT
MassachusettsCYESMass. Ann. Laws. ch. 272 @34 (1994)Jail sentence of not more than 20 years
MichiganCYESMCL @750.185 (1992)Jail sentence of not more than 15 years
MinnessotaCYESMinn. Stat. @609.294, (1993) Either fine of not more than $3,000 or sentence of not more than 1 year.
MississippiCYES Miss. Code. Ann., @97-29-59Sentence of not more than 10 years.
MissouriCNONE
MontanaCYES Mont. Code. Ann., @45-5-505 (1994)10 year sentence and/or $50,000 fine.
NebraskaCNONE
NevadaCNONE
New HampshireCNONE
New JerseyCNONE
New MexicoCNONE
New YorkCYES NY CLS Penal @130.20 (1994) Class A misdemeanor.
North CarolinaCYES N.C. Gen. Stat. @14-177 (1994)Class I felony. 3-10 years
North DakotaCYES N.D. Cent. Code @12.1-20-03, 12.1-20-07, 12.1-20-12(1993) Various penalties, and can be considered either "gross sexual imposition," "sexual assault" or "deviate sexual act"
OhioCNONE
OklahomaCYES 21 Okl. St. @886 (1994)"imprisonment not to exceed 10 years"
OregonCNONE
PennsylvaniaCYES 18 Pa. C. S. @3101, 3123 and 3124 (1994)
Rhode IslandCYES R.I. Gen. Laws @11-10-1 (1993)7-20 years.
South CarolinaCYES S.C. Code Ann. @16-15-120 (1993) 5 yrs jail and/or fine of at least $500
South DakotaCNONE
TennesseeCYES Tenn. Code. Ann. @39-13-501 (1994)
TexasCNONE
UtahCYES Bestiality 76-9-301.8 Class B Misdemeanor
VermontCNONE
VirginiaCYES Va. Code. Ann. @18.2-361 (1994) Class 6 Felony
WashingtonCNONE
Washington DCCYES DC Code @22-3502 (1994) ("Sexual Psychopath" chapter) Fine not more than $1,000 and/or sentence of not more than 10 yrs
West VirginiaCNONE
WisconsinCYES Wis. State. @944.17 (1993)None listed
WyomingCNONE

Laws in other countries

CountryVarLawStatutePenalty
CanadaCYES Criminal Code of Canada Section 153Approx 10 years
DenmarkWNONE
FinlandWNONE
New ZealandCYESCrimes Act of 1964 Section 143 & 144Maximum 7 years PT
SwitzerlandWNONE
United KingdomCYES Sexual Offences Act of 1956, Section 12(1) Sexual Offences Act of 1967, Section 3(1)Life imprisonment (typically 30 years)

Federal laws of the U.S. regarding bestiality

  1. Introduction

    There is no federal law which prohibits sex between humans and animals. There are a few federal laws, however, which list bestiality, along with many other forms of sex, which are prohibited when involving children (18 USCS @2256, 3509 (1994) ).

  2. The Roth Test

    In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court developed the "Roth Test" to define "obscenity." The Roth Test requires that the court ask "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest" (Roth v. United States, 354 US 476, 1). Since the Roth decision, the Supreme Court has added that such material must be utterly without redeeming social values.

  3. United States Code Chapter 71; Obscenity

    SectionContent
    1460Possession with intent to sell, and sale, of obscene matter on Federal property
    1461Mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter
    1462Importation or transportation of obscene matters
    1463Mailing indecent matter on wrappers or envelopes
    1464Broadcasting obscene language
    1465Transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution
    1466Engaging in the business of selling or transferring obscene matter
    1467Criminal forfeiture
    1468Distributing obscene material by cable or subscription television
    1469Presumptions

    In Armijo v. U.S., 384 F2d 694, The court ruled that portions of letters describing in detail "degenerate bestiality" were not merely obscene but represented hard-core pornography.

    The federal code most damaging to zoophiliac freedom is 18 USCS @ 1461, which prohibits obscene books as mailable. In the case U.S. v. Miller 455 F.2d 899, this statute was applied by court to find that books describing bestiality between women and a dog were "unmailable."

    Now remember the Roth Test...So now you know that you can't mail, import, transport, broadcast, transport, sell, transfer, or distribute via cable or subscription televison, obscene material.

    Criminal forfeiture? Guess what, Code 1467 says that the courts can take any property that involved the obscenity law being broken. This could be your VCR, your car, your computer, etcetera. You forfeited them when you used them to break the law.

    Presumptions? Code 1469 means that if there is any hint that the material was made somewhere else, be it direct evidence or even circumstantial evidence, then the courts will immediately assume it was transported and therefore violated Code 1462 as well.


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