‘Sodomy’ charges in North Carolina
“I didn’t allow anything…. They knew it and turned it around and arrested me. I have never been so humiliated in all my life. It’s just awful.”
Nelson Keith Sloan, a man who called Raleigh, NC police about an alleged attack by another man, Ryan Christopher Flynn. Police charged both men with a “crime against nature,” a Class I felony, a charge that carries up to two years in prison. Flynn was also charged with simple assault and communicating threats. (The News and Observer)
“I am grateful that the DA’s office has a better understanding of the Constitution than the Raleigh Police Department…. However, as long as this law remains on the books it is a crime punishable by an arrest, a stay in jail, media attention, and a fine of $450 since that is how much it cost me to get out of jail.”
Nelson Keith Sloan, commenting after prosecutors of Wake County, NC dropped “sodomy” charges against him and Ryan Christopher Flynn, an apparent sex partner who he says attacked him. It was determined the the acts between them were of consenting adults in private. Five years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot make private sexual conduct a crime. (The Charlotte Observer)
“I couldn’t care less what these guys do…. I’m with the old Victorian lady who said, ‘I don’t care what people do as long as they don’t do it in the street and scare the horses.’ But you don’t want me to decide which laws to enforce and which not to. My opinion shouldn’t enter into it.”
Joe Furmick, Wake County magistrate who booked Sloan, seeming to defend the Raleigh Police’s original charge of a “crime against nature.” (TradingMarkets)
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