
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990                   TAG: 9005030532
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ADULTERY

THE WISCONSIN woman charged with adultery is being singled out for punishment that could be applied to thousands. Laws against adultery, fornication and sodomy are still on the books in 27 states, including Virginia, but are enforced only rarely. They serve no good purpose, and ought to be repealed.

When an adultery charge was filed last year against Donna E. Carroll in Ashland, Wis., no one could recall when a similar charge last had been brought in the state. Is Carroll the only woman in Wisconsin who qualifies to be accused of infidelity? More likely, she's the only woman whose estranged husband sought vengeance through criminal court.

Carroll's defense attorneys plan to argue in court that Wisconsin's adultery law is unconstitutional. They say the statute violates her rights to privacy, equal protection, due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. The state argues that it has an interest in maintaining stable marriages, and is representing the public good by pressing charges against Carroll.

If Carroll is convicted of adultery, will the state have achieved its goal? The counseling profession might argue that intimidation is not the way to stable relationships.

And if the state is so interested in marriage, why did the district attorney single out one partner for prosecution? Carroll's husband has admitted having an extramarital affair, while she has maintained innocence.

Adultery statutes are sex-neutral, but enforcement most often is directed at women. The charge against Carroll reinforces the attitude that women who cheat on their husbands deserve punishment. The fact that no charge was filed against her husband - or the man with whom she allegedly slept - reinforces the idea that male sexual partners are absolved from guilt.

Society is far more tolerant than when Wisconsin's adultery law was passed in the 19th century. For the most part, government has gotten out of the business of trying to legislate morality. Wisconsin, Virginia and the other 25 states with these antiquated laws ought to get rid of them. Otherwise, they'll continue to be pulled out to satisfy grudges.

by CNB