LA suburb repeals law banning 'immoral conduct'

ROLLING HILLS, Calif. (AP) A law against adultery in this Los Angeles suburb will soon be history.

The City Council voted Monday to repeal an old ordinance that prohibited immoral conduct, including extramarital sex. The law was passed after the city incorporated in 1957.

``So this is a pro-adultery thing?'' joked Councilman James Black in an interview with the Daily Breeze before the meeting. ``Good for us!''

The ordinance banned immoral conduct defined as ``any person exposing his or her person or the private parts thereof; or the doing of any other act with the intent of arousing, appealing to or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of any person to whom he or she is not married.''

Violating the law could result in a $250 fine or three months in jail, or both.

The repeal issue arose when a resident scouring the municipal code mentioned it at council candidates forum. They were unsure if anyone had been cited for breaking the law and why it was enacted.

``Why this particular law has been dormant and allowed to remain on the books all these years is anyone's guess,'' City Attorney Mike Jenkins said. ``I can only venture to say that when a new city incorporates it's not unusual for it to borrow heavily from an already existing city for its municipal code so they don't have to start from scratch. I doubt it had anything to do with the rate of adultery in Rolling Hills.''

Local laws criminalizing sexual behavior were superseded by a California Supreme Court decision in 1962 that ruled the state has authority over such matters, Jenkins said.

The ordinance will be formally repealed at the end of May, 30 days after the repeal is given a second reading on April 28.

Rolling Hills is a Palos Verdes Peninsula community of 1,900.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)