An estimated 140,000 people in Virginia commit this crime every day: living with someone to whom they are not married.
The law, which has been on the books in the commonwealth for 136 years, came a step closer to being repealed Friday. The House Courts of Justice Committee voted unanimously to repeal the law, sending it to the rest of the House for consideration.
The law calls cohabitation with an unmarried partner “lewd and lascivious.” It has not been enforced in many years, according to State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who introduced the measure to repeal the law.
