Here we see the lasting effects of the unequal enforcement of morality laws in Fairfax County. In the 1950s, William Floyd Morris (white) was “charged with rape on complaint of a 21-year-old colored girl” but the charge was reduced to adultery. Between the reduced charge and the dehumanizing label of the unnamed victim as simply a “colored girl,” it is apparent that well into the 20th century, morality laws were not bringing necessary justice to women of color.^[1]

Research on this topic is nowhere close to being exhausted. A closer look at how morality law punishments for charges other than bastardy were enforced differently on racial and gender lines is possible and could lead to insightful comparisons on how the rulings differed if there was no child as physical evidence. One could also track the changes in morality laws and their enforcement from before the abolition of slavery into the Reconstruction Era, or the Reconstruction Era into the Sexual Revolution of the 1920s and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

How a community polices morality reveals much about the beliefs and state of society at a certain time in history. Morality laws have been in place in almost every society throughout history, but exactly what the morality laws target, how they are enforced, and onto whom, shows what a culture values and what groups have the most social and political influence. With morality laws specifically, there is a high risk of legal discrimination as specific groups such as people of color, women, and members of the queer community are disproportionally affected and policed to a higher extent. This legal disparity can have lasting negative effects on the marginalized groups within a society, while also furthering the privileges of the dominant class (see: “Fairfax Man Fined On Adultery Charge”). As we continue to enforce certain morality laws and let others go, it is important to know the history behind them and who they affected the most. Only then can we see the true intentions of so-called “morality.”

^[1]“Fairfax Man Fined On Adultery Charge,” Evening Star, June 26, 1952, Readex AllSearch.