Archaic slander law repealed by state

OLYMPIA – Impugning a lady’s chaste reputation will soon be legal in Washington state.

Gov. Christine Gregoire on Friday signed a bill repealing an archaic law that prohibited slander of a woman.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, sponsored the bill.

“When the slander of a woman law was first passed, civility laws protecting a woman’s virtue were quite common,” said Kohl-Welles, a women’s studies lecturer at the University of Washington. “But now they’re just quaint. Protecting a woman’s virtue also usually meant ‘protecting’ them from equal rights, too.”

The statute prohibits “false or defamatory words or language which shall injure or impair” the virtuous and chaste reputation of any female over 12. The law does say it is OK to slander a “common prostitute.”

Washington has other laws protecting all citizens from slander.

Though the law is archaic and probably unconstitutional, prosecutors have used it dozens of times in recent years. When she signed the bill, Gregoire said the law is discriminatory. The repeal will take effect in 90 days.