The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
What is a 'lascivious carriage,' and where can it be found?
You might think it's something you'd see shown on the cover of a romance novel set in the early 1800s, but it's actually a crime defined to cover, see Fowler v. State (Conn. 1811),
all those wanton acts, between persons of different sexes, flowing from the exercise of lustful passions, which are grossly indecent and unchaste; and which are not otherwise punished as crimes against chastity and public decency.
Wanton acts between persons of the same sex did not qualify, at least according to State v. Fenster (Conn. Cir. Ct. 1962). The term (though not the behavior) seemed to be, in the United States, nearly exclusive to Connecticut.
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