Adultery close to becoming legal in Colorado -- Aw, heck, let's also toss in murder and coveting neighbourly things

Colorado moved a step closer to repealing the unenforced crime of adultery Friday with a Senate vote, after arguments that the crime is outdated and never enforced.

The bill also repeals the related crime of contributing to "sexual immorality" by providing a place for unmarried people to have sex. That prohibition was aimed at Frontier-era flophouses.

Colorado is one of a handful of states that still have adultery crimes on the books, and there has been little debate about tossing the prohibition.

"These are very antiquated notions, and in my mind they're actually unconstitutional," said the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Pat Steadman, who doubted that a crime that hinges on a person's marital status and wouldn't be illegal for unmarried people could withstand a legal challenge.

One lawmaker, though, has taken issue with the measure. Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg argued unsuccessfully Friday that lawmakers should hold off repealing the sexual immorality part until they can be assured the change won't endanger modern-day prostitution and human trafficking cases.

Lundberg feared that repealing the place-of-unmarried-sex law could spark brothels in Colorado.

"I've been informally calling this the brothel bill, because that's what it's going to be doing," Lundberg warned. (read more)