Vol. 31, No. 4, #6. Giving Specificity to the Indecent Liberties Statute.

• Author: Author: Hon. Keith Gingery

Wyoming Bar Journal

2008.

Vol. 31, No. 4, #6.

Giving Specificity to the Indecent Liberties Statute

Wyoming Bar Journal Issue: August, 2008 Author: Hon. Keith Gingery Giving Specificity to the Indecent Liberties Statute

EDITOR'S NOTEAs Wyoming practitioners know, several members of the Wyoming Legislature are members of the Wyoming State Bar. The Editorial Committee of the Wyoming Lawyer has asked one such Wyoming attorney and member of the Wyoming Legislature to offer his perspective on the 2007 amendment to a Wyoming statute concerning indecent liberties. Representative Keith Gingery generously agreed to provide his insight into the 2007 amendment, along with his analysis of the substance of the new statute. The Editorial Committee is always exploring different angles concerning articles, so we hope you find such an approach interesting. However, as with all articles published in the Wyoming Lawyer, the opinions and analysis are those of the author only.

The "Vaporous Nature" of Indecent Liberties

The old "indecent liberties" statute was seen by many to be overbroad and hard to define. The law used the words immodest, immoral, and indecent, which are not specific. Chief Justice Voigt described "indecent liberties" in his dissent in Moe v. State

(Moe I) as having a "vaporous nature." Justice Kite, in her concurring opinion in Moe I, urged the Wyoming Legislature to consider the issues raised by Chief Justice Voigt in his dissent and to fix the "indecent liberties" statute. Justice Kite effectively addressed the Wyoming Legislature and stated that it is not the province of the courts to legislate, but that the Wyoming Legislature should consider adding clarity, thus avoiding constitutional challenges. Justice Kite even went as far as to provide the Wyoming Legislature with citations to statutes in Colorado, Montana, and Alaska that would potentially provide clarity.

The Judiciary Requests a Change

The suggestion to the Wyoming Legislature was to create specificity in the "indecent liberties" statute. The suggestion was proffered in order to solve what Justice Marilyn Kite of the Wyoming Supreme Court referred to as a "perennial" problem in regard to the constitutionality of the "indecent liberties" statute. The passage of Senate File 104 (2007 Wyoming Session Laws Ch.159) during the 2007 Wyoming Legislative...