Also known as: sexual activities · sexual conduct
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Conduct involving intimate physical acts performed for sexual gratification or arousal.
Sean Steele and Samuel Soto engaged in intimate acts inside Taylor's apartment after work hours with no commercial element or public display. State prosecutors sought to enforce an unused statute against the conduct. The absence of any legitimate governmental objective beyond moral disapproval prevented criminal liability.
Sydney Santos created and sold videos depicting minors in explicit physical acts. The materials were not required to meet the Miller obscenity test. The state's compelling interest in preventing actual exploitation of children supported criminal penalties for the sale.
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Seth Shapiro displayed signs depicting certain forms of adult physical intimacy while the city ordinance banned only those carrying a disfavored political message. The selective prohibition triggered strict scrutiny. The ordinance fell because it regulated speech on the basis of viewpoint.
Solomon Silver was charged under a state statute for engaging in private same-sex physical acts in his own bedroom. The prosecution rested solely on the moral disapproval reflected in the law. The court upheld the statute as a valid exercise of state police power over sexual conduct.
Sebastian Santos and his spouse obtained contraceptives for use in their intimate relations. State officials attempted to enforce a ban on distribution of the devices to married couples. The prohibition invaded the protected zone of privacy surrounding marital physical conduct.
A seventeen-year-old male engaged in intercourse with a fifteen-year-old female. The statute punished only males for the act. The classification survived equal-protection review because it addressed the risk of teenage pregnancy resulting from the conduct.
The Due Process Clause protects private, noncommercial sexual conduct between fully consenting adults. Moral disapproval alone supplies no legitimate governmental objective. A statute criminalizing such conduct fails rational-basis review.
Child pornography constitutes a distinct unprotected category of speech. The government possesses a compelling interest in protecting children from sexual exploitation. This interest justifies bans on sale and distribution regardless of Miller standards.
Rule 412 generally excludes such evidence. Limited exceptions permit proof offered to show an alternative source of semen or injury or when exclusion would violate the defendant's constitutional rights. The court must weigh probative value against prejudice in each instance.
…existence. It has been argued occasionally that these laws were the product of a Victorian social concern to discourage illicit sexual conduct. Texas, however, does not advance this justification in the present case, and it appears that no court or commentator has taken the argument seriously.[^maj-42] The appellants and amici…