Desuetude

views updated May 21 2018

DESUETUDE

The state of being unused; legally, the doctrine by which a law or treaty is rendered obsolete because of disuse. The concept encompasses situations in which a court refuses to enforce an unused law even if the law has not been repealed.

Desuetude saw use as a defense during the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2003 decision in lawrence v. texas, which dealt with Texas' sodomy law. Lawrence successfully argued that since statutes prohibiting sodomy had either fallen into obscurity or been overturned in most states, Texas' statute was similarly invalid.

desuetude

views updated Jun 08 2018

desuetude XV. — F. désuétude or its source L. dēsuētūdō, f. dēsuēscere, dēsuēt- disuse, become unaccustomed, f. DE- 6 + suēscere be wont; see -TUDE.

desuetude

views updated May 29 2018

des·ue·tude / ˈdeswiˌt(y)oōd/ • n. formal a state of disuse: the docks fell into desuetude.

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