North Dakota Senate rejects repeal of law making cohabitation a crime
BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) -- The state Senate has voted to keep a 113-year-old law that makes it a crime for unmarried couples to live together.
A proposal to repeal the anti-cohabitation law, which says a man and woman may not live together "openly and notoriously" as if they were married, was defeated 26-21 on Tuesday.
The offense is listed among other sex crimes, including rape and incest. Violations carry a maximum 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
"It stands as a reminder that there is right, and there is wrong," said Sen. John Andrist, a Republican. "Just because something can't be enforced, I don't think it necessarily means that we should feel compelled to take a position to take it off the books."
Advocates of repealing the law say it is almost never enforced, and doing so would require unorthodox police work.
"You're going to have to hire the sex police to get the pictures," said Sen. Linda Christenson, a Democrat. "This is such an intrusion into the privacy of people's relationships and living agreements, that the only way to (prove a crime) is to grossly cross over the boundaries of privacy."
The law has been on the books since 1890. It was approved during the first legislative session, the year after North Dakota became a state.
Some county prosecutors occasionally receive requests from spouses who want their husbands or wives prosecuted for cohabitation or adultery, which is also a crime.
Census data show that North Dakota has more than 11,000 unmarried couples living together, although the figure includes gay and lesbian couples. The law refers only to one person living with another of the opposite sex.
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