Mississippi’s sodomy law cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars, but remains on the books

Some people who were convicted of sodomy remain on the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry and could sue any time, according to an attorney who has fought such laws across the country.

by Taylor Vance and Molly Mintas

Mississippi coughed up more than $400,000 this year to attorneys who sued the state over an unconstitutional sodomy law that criminalizes oral and anal sex, and if a similar suit is filed in the future, it could pay even more money.

The Legislature appropriated and paid the fees to civil rights attorneys from multiple legal organizations after Mississippi Attorneys General Jim Hood and Lynn Fitch spent years defending the antiquated sodomy law—Mississippi Code Section 97-29-59.

But Mississippi could be on the hook for even more fees, according to Matthew Strugar, an attorney who helped bring the case. That’s because lawmakers this session let die in committee a bill to repeal the state’s “unnatural intercourse” law, which was primarily used decades ago to target LGBTQ+ Mississippians and sex workers.