LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Some lawyers and gay rights supporters say lingering statutes criminalizing sodomy and laws prohibiting same-sex marriage could be used to harass gay couples in Michigan, despite court rulings that render those laws moot.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that laws banning sodomy are unconstitutional. But a Ferndale attorney, Rudy Serra, says if a conservative prosecutor and judge paired up in Michigan they could financially devastate a gay couple.
Serra says the case would be thrown out upon appeal. But he says unconstitutional laws could still stigmatize.
A state commission charged with identifying anachronistic laws released a report this spring showing more than 100 state statutes may need to be updated after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the prohibition on same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015.
