Dormant Statutes and the Legal Concept of Desuetude

Many statutes remain on the books but are not routinely enforced by authorities. While some of these statutes are largely inconsequential, others have important symbolic and real effects for their target populations. These statutes may be termed dormant or “desuetudinal.” Their existence has outlasted their use and their original social context. “Dormant Statutes and the Legal Concept of Desuetude” offers a guide to examining debates surrounding the continued existence of dormant statutes, cases where such statutes are employed and/or challenged, and theoretical discussions of desuetude as a means of repealing such statutes.