Blacks Law Dictionary - 4th Edition
Licentiousness
LICENTIOUSNESS. The indulgence of the arbitrary
will of the individual, without regard to
ethics or law, or respect for the rights of others.
In this it differs from "liberty;" for the latter term may
properly be used only of the exercise of the will in its
moral freedom, with justice to all men and obedience to
the laws, Welch v. Durand, 36 Conn. 184, 4 Am. Rep. 55;
State v. Brigman, 94 N.C. 889; liberty is restrained by
natural or positive law, and consists in doing whatever we
please not inconsistent with the rights of others, whereas
licentiousness does not respect those rights. Wolff, Inst.
§ 84.
Also, lewdness or lasciviousness. Holton v.
State, 28 Fla. 303, 9 So. 716; Purvis v. State, 117
Neb. 377, 220 N.W. 599, 600.
will of the individual, without regard to
ethics or law, or respect for the rights of others.
In this it differs from "liberty;" for the latter term may
properly be used only of the exercise of the will in its
moral freedom, with justice to all men and obedience to
the laws, Welch v. Durand, 36 Conn. 184, 4 Am. Rep. 55;
State v. Brigman, 94 N.C. 889; liberty is restrained by
natural or positive law, and consists in doing whatever we
please not inconsistent with the rights of others, whereas
licentiousness does not respect those rights. Wolff, Inst.
§ 84.
Also, lewdness or lasciviousness. Holton v.
State, 28 Fla. 303, 9 So. 716; Purvis v. State, 117
Neb. 377, 220 N.W. 599, 600.
LEWDNESS. Gross and wanton indecency in sexual
relations. State v. Brenner, 132 N.J.L. 607, 41
A.2d 532, 534, 535. Gross indecency so notorious as
to tend to corrupt community's morals. Abbott v.
State, 163 Tenn. 384, 43 S.W.2d 211, 212. Licentiousness;
that form of immorality which has
relation to sexual impurity. U. S. v. Males, D.C.
Ind., 51 F. 41. Moral turpitude. Lane ex rel. Cronin
v. Tillinghast, C.C.A.Mass., 38 F.2d 231, 232.
Open and public indecency. State v. Brenner, 132
N.J.L. 607, 41 A.2d 532, 534, 535. Sensuality; debauchery.
State v. Sullivan, 187 Iowa, 385, 174 N.
W. 225. An offense against the public economy,
when of an open and notorious character; as by
frequenting houses of ill fame, which is an indictable
offense, or by some grossly scandalous and
public indecency, for which the punishment at common
law is fine and imprisonment. Wharton. See
Brooks v. State, 2 Yerg. (Tenn.) 483; State v.
Bauguess, 106 Iowa, 107, 76 N.W. 508.
The term includes prostitution and assignation and other
immoral or degenerate conduct or conversation between
persons of opposite sexes, People v. Bay Side Land Co., 48
Cal.App. 257, 191 P. 994, 995. As well as between persons of
the same sex, and signifies both illicit sexual intercourse
and the irregular indulgence of lust, whether public or
private, Commonwealth v. Porter, 2.37 Mass. 1, 129 N.E.
298, 299; State v. Rayburn, 170 Iowa 514, 153 N.W. 59, 60,
L.R.A.1915F, 640. Holding that the living together of a
man and woman unmarried, when generally known
throughout the neighborhood, constitutes open and gross
lewdness. Contra: City of Shreveport v. Wilson, 145 La.
906, 83 So. 186, 188.
Lewd or lascivious behavior practised without disguise,
secrecy, or concealment. The adjective relates to the
quality of the act, not to the place nor to the number of
spectators. State v. Juneau, 88 Wis. 180, 59 N.W. 580, 24
L.R.A. 857, 43 Am.St.Rep. 877; Corn. v. Wardell, 128
Mass. 52, 35 Am.Rep. 357. There must be present elements
making the act shameless, aggressive, and defiant, rather
than furtive and hiding away in shame; lewdness being
deemed open when committed in the presence of another
person, or in a place open to public view. State v. Pedigo,
190 Mo.App. 293, 176 S. W. 556, 557.
relations. State v. Brenner, 132 N.J.L. 607, 41
A.2d 532, 534, 535. Gross indecency so notorious as
to tend to corrupt community's morals. Abbott v.
State, 163 Tenn. 384, 43 S.W.2d 211, 212. Licentiousness;
that form of immorality which has
relation to sexual impurity. U. S. v. Males, D.C.
Ind., 51 F. 41. Moral turpitude. Lane ex rel. Cronin
v. Tillinghast, C.C.A.Mass., 38 F.2d 231, 232.
Open and public indecency. State v. Brenner, 132
N.J.L. 607, 41 A.2d 532, 534, 535. Sensuality; debauchery.
State v. Sullivan, 187 Iowa, 385, 174 N.
W. 225. An offense against the public economy,
when of an open and notorious character; as by
frequenting houses of ill fame, which is an indictable
offense, or by some grossly scandalous and
public indecency, for which the punishment at common
law is fine and imprisonment. Wharton. See
Brooks v. State, 2 Yerg. (Tenn.) 483; State v.
Bauguess, 106 Iowa, 107, 76 N.W. 508.
The term includes prostitution and assignation and other
immoral or degenerate conduct or conversation between
persons of opposite sexes, People v. Bay Side Land Co., 48
Cal.App. 257, 191 P. 994, 995. As well as between persons of
the same sex, and signifies both illicit sexual intercourse
and the irregular indulgence of lust, whether public or
private, Commonwealth v. Porter, 2.37 Mass. 1, 129 N.E.
298, 299; State v. Rayburn, 170 Iowa 514, 153 N.W. 59, 60,
L.R.A.1915F, 640. Holding that the living together of a
man and woman unmarried, when generally known
throughout the neighborhood, constitutes open and gross
lewdness. Contra: City of Shreveport v. Wilson, 145 La.
906, 83 So. 186, 188.
Lewd or lascivious behavior practised without disguise,
secrecy, or concealment. The adjective relates to the
quality of the act, not to the place nor to the number of
spectators. State v. Juneau, 88 Wis. 180, 59 N.W. 580, 24
L.R.A. 857, 43 Am.St.Rep. 877; Corn. v. Wardell, 128
Mass. 52, 35 Am.Rep. 357. There must be present elements
making the act shameless, aggressive, and defiant, rather
than furtive and hiding away in shame; lewdness being
deemed open when committed in the presence of another
person, or in a place open to public view. State v. Pedigo,
190 Mo.App. 293, 176 S. W. 556, 557.
