02-01-2019, 05:22 AM
This actually isn't as bad as it looks, in my opinion. It may be a bad omen, a sign that the powers that be are more against zoosexuality than ever...but we already knew that by the post-2000 recriminalization wave across all the states.
First of all, this law doesn't preempt any state laws, and only applies to interstate crime. Zoos will probably never have to deal with the legal territory this covers if they're careful. Even if the jurisdiction applies, the phrase "incapable of appraising the nature of [the sexual conduct]" (USC Title 18, Section 2242, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph A), insofar as it applies to nonhumans, is key to this act being relevant to all zoosexual behavior and not just patently abusive cruelty. If it's honestly true that nonhumans have enough mental faculties to understand sexual contact and sexual behavior (spoiler, it is), the letter of the law actually doesn't criminalize conscientious zoosexual behavior...only its spirit does.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me like the law could maybe succumb to a serious challenge in court. And if it did, it would be a major watershed moment. It's just a matter of properly convincing people of the truth.
