What people are called when they're convicted of crimes
It's interesting seeing all the inflections from the name of the crime to what the person who commits the crime is called. Following the format of "name of crime----------what that person is called who commits," here's an incomplete list:
treason-----traitor
mutiny-----mutineer
insurrection-----insurgent
murder-----murderer
rape-----rapist
terrorism-----terrorist
sodomy-----sodomite
burglary-----burglar
theft-----thief
larceny-----larcenist
banditry-----bandit
robbery-----robber
assault-----assailant
battery-----batterer
(If anybody wants to add to it or make corrections, please feel free.)
assault-----assailant
This one is wrong. Assailant is a more broader term than that.
Also, by your logic, one could say that "sodomite" for "sodomy" is wrong, because "sodomite" is much broader than that, but that would be utter BS, like what you said. Now if the crime was broader than what the person who commits it is called, you would have a point, like if there were subsets of sodomy that have different names, and I associated the superset term sodomy to just one of them. Sorry Charlie.
In which states (USA) is sodomy a crime?
There's always:
crime-----criminal
<<In which states (USA) is sodomy a crime?>>
None
"By 2002, 36 states had repealed all sodomy laws or had them overturned by court rulings. The remaining anti-homosexual sodomy laws have been invalidated by the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas"
One of the major arguments was that, because many of the 36 states held that heterosexual sodomy was legal, it was a violation of the Equal Protections clause. I find it interesting that the Court disagreed with that argument.
From what I understand, the Supreme Court's ruling did not overturn _nonconsensual_ sodomy.
What about the all-purpose word "perpetrator"?
<<One of the major arguments was that, because many of the 36 states held that heterosexual sodomy was legal, it was a violation of the Equal Protections clause. I find it interesting that the Court disagreed with that argument.>>
Skippy, 36 states had already taken sodomy laws off the books. There may have been many different arguments maid to over turn the laws, but the primary argument used was that of right to privacy, both for heterosexuals and for homosexuals. Largely the difference is that the laws were used against homosexuals. In the case of Lawrence v. Texas a call from a snoop next door into a local police station ended with illegal entry into a private residence (supposedly because some one was in danger) and the arrest of two consenting adults for having sex in the privacy of their own home.
<<From what I understand, the Supreme Court's ruling did not overturn _nonconsensual_ sodomy.>>
All non-consensual sex is illegal in the U.S.
Sorry, the last post was mine.
Although people who commit assualt are assailants, "assailant" actually comes from "assail", not "assault".