On Monday, members of the Virginia Senate Committee on Courts of Justice will consider a bill sponsored by State Senator Adam Ebbin and State Delegate Scott Surovell to overturn a 1877 anti-cohabitation law still on the books in Virginia, according to the Washington Post.
Under the 1877 law, it is illegal in Virginia for unmarried couples to live together. Section 18.2-345 of the Virginia code states that:
If any persons, not married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together… each of them shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor [a fine up to $500].
State Senator Ebbin said only three other states still have cohabitation laws on the books: Mississippi, Michigan and Florida. While anti-cohabitation laws are hardly ever prosecuted, they are "cited by landlords as a reason for not renting to cohabiting couples or by government agencies refusing licenses," according to USA Today.
ARLNow says the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has expressed support for Senator Ebbin’s bill. A spokesman for the Virginia Senate Committee on Courts of Justice, however, stated that the Committee was unfamiliar with the bill and had no comment on it.
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