Cuccinelli reportedly once backed adultery bans

Restrictions on adultery “ought to stay on the books," he reportedly said in 2008

Published July 23, 2013 7:55PM (EDT)

Ken Cuccinelli, the anti-sodomy Virginia attorney general who is also running for governor, reportedly once expressed support for keeping anti-adultery laws "on the books."

Politico reports that Cuccinelli, a Republican, made the comments when he was a state senator, the year before he was elected attorney general:

Speaking to Richmond’s Style Weekly magazine back in 2008, Cuccinelli defended laws criminalizing extramarital sex, saying that such restrictions “ought to stay on the books.”

“Frankly it wouldn’t hurt to enforce them more,” Cuccinelli is quoted saying. The magazine paraphrased Cuccinelli drawing a comparison to “perjury inasmuch as the occasional prosecution or two would get people thinking twice.”

In his campaign for governor, Cuccinelli has been touting his continued defense of a law banning oral and anal sex in the state, launching a website that frames the law as cracking down on child predators.


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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2013 Elections Adultery Ken Cuccinelli Republicans Sodomy Virginia