Attorney General Luther Strange wants an appeals court to reconsider its ruling striking down Alabama's sexual misconduct law.
The law criminalized all acts of anal and oral sex. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled unanimously Friday that the law is unconstitutional because of a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning a Texas law against consensual homosexual conduct.
The attorney general's office conceded the law was not constitutional when applied to consensual sex. The attorney general wanted the court to leave the law in place for prosecution of nonconsensual sex acts, but the court struck the entire law.
Strange said Thursday the law is an important tool to protect homosexual and heterosexual victims from nonconsensual sex, and that's why he says he will ask the court to reconsider its decision.