Reply #51: But it's still a question for the employer, not the judicial system. [View All]

[wickerwoman]

He should be fired if he was sleeping with a student while she was in his class. He should lose his teaching license. Those are proportional responses.

But he hasn't broken any real laws. It's not statutory rape. She's a consenting adult. Nobody was hurt. If she wasn't in his class, or likely to be in the future, I don't think there's anything more gross about it than any other 30 year old chasing 18 year olds.

I find a lot of things morally repulsive but don't think there should be laws against them (prostitution, certain types of porn, making your kid carry a "God Hates Fags" sign, spanking, rap music that denigrates women and gay people, training attack dogs, smoking around other people, shopping at Walmart, etc.)

Except in cases where one person's actions are creating clear physical danger for another person (who doesn't have a choice to get away from the situation) I think we should be really cautious about taking away the rights of consenting adults to do what they like, even when we find their choices morally repulsive.