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The Impact of Sodomy Law Repeals on Crime

General Economics 2020-08-26 v1 Economics

Abstract

We exploit variation in the timing of decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse across U.S. states to estimate the impact of these law changes on crime through difference-in-difference and event-study models. We provide the first evidence that sodomy law repeals led to a decline in the number of arrests for disorderly conduct, prostitution, and other sex offenses. Furthermore, we show that these repeals led to a reduction in arrests for drug and alcohol consumption.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2008.10926,
  title  = {The Impact of Sodomy Law Repeals on Crime},
  author = {Riccardo Ciacci and Dario Sansone},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.10926},
  year   = {2020}
}