State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent and Cross-Appellant v. Thomas A. Lair, Defendant-Appellant and…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reinstated the rape conviction and affirmed the sodomy conviction, holding that the trial court's failure to give a limiting instruction on prior convictions was harmless error, that the sodomy statute is not unconstitutionally vague, that it covers heterosexual conduct, and that consent is not a defense. Justice Weintraub concurred in the result but expressed reservations about the constitutionality of applying the statute to consensual adult conduct.