Court upholds sentence of gay teen (this is horrible)

[donsu]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/31/court_upholds_sentence_of_gay_teen/

(they are talking about boys in a developmentally disabled youths school)

A state court in Kansas, under orders from the US Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling that allowed harsher punishment of gay teenagers who engage in sex, reached the same judgment yesterday and defended it as a way to promote traditional moral values.

The Kansas Court of Appeals for a second time upheld the 17-year prison sentence of a youth who, at age 18, engaged in oral sex with a 14-year-old boy. For the same crime, if it had involved an act between an 18-year-old male and a 14-year-old girl, the sentence would have been 13 to 15 months.

In finding that the different treatment was valid, the state court commented in its 2-1 decision:

"The Legislature could have reasonably determined that to prevent the gradual deterioration of the sexual morality approved by a majority of Kansans, it would encourage and preserve the traditional sexual mores of society."
-snip-
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you will get sick to your stomach reading the rest of this.

[leyton]

1. What a stupid ruling.

I could have sworn we lived in a society where the opinions of the majority didn't override the rights of the minority.

By the way, anyone read "Opus" (the comic strip) this morning?

[flamingyouth]

2. Yes - Opus was brilliant today

He came back not a moment too soon.

[cosmicdot]

10. Indeed ... as Thomas Jefferson stated in his 1st Inaugural Address ...

Wednesday, March 4, 1801:

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind.

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres16.html

[girl gone mad]

3. can they..

take it back to the SC?

[flamingyouth]

4. The worst part is that they were pressured by SCOTUS

:grr:

... and still reached the same conclusion. What a horrible story, to put it mildly.

[arcane1]

5. Oh My God, read this comment:

from the article:

The majority said that traditional sexual mores are valued because they promote marriage and childbearing. "Throughout history, governments have extolled the virtues of procreation as a way to furnish new workers, soldiers, and other useful members of society," the majority opinion said.

I am straight, as straight as man can probably be, but I can promise you all one thing: I will NEVER set one foot in the madhouse that is Kansas. EVER.

[DBoon]

9. In Huxley's Brave New World

The production of workers was performed through a mechanized factory-like assembly line, designed to produce humans with just the right characteristics for their role in later life.

I bet the Kansas court would love this system.

[arcane1]

12. they would praise it as God-given..

though they wouldn't like BNW's consequence of it- guilt-free, rampant promiscuity. These loons prefer to see pregnancy as the woman's punishment for tempting the man into having icky unclean sex with her :grr:

[Philosophy]

11. Uh...what?

So traditional heterosexual statutory rape is valued more than homosexual statutory rape? Rape is a virtue if it is used as a way to furnish new soldiers? These judges are some sick bastards.

[rumguy]

15. I swear some of these kooks are worried that people are gonna quit

getting it on and having kids...like the state has to prod people into procreating...

Hey, hello, you morans - there's babies popping out left and right all over this country.

[shimmergal]

16. Yes, and for this case this rationale makes no sense anyway.

No procreation takes place as a result of oral sex, no matter what the genders of the participants!

[DBoon]

6. Another way to look at this

Sexual violation of a woman by a man carries a lesser sentence because women are "less valuable" than men.

In addition to an abhorence of homosexuality (a feminized male is a traitor to his gender), these sort of laws also embody a lower status for women.

I'd bet if the incident was between an 18 year old woman and a 14 year old girl, nobody would bat an eye.

[drdigi420]

7. this is the same state

that preaches creationism instead of teaching evolution

what do you expect?

this is more evidence that religion is evil

[Selwynn]

8. Bush declared open season on gays in the SOTU. :(

[rumguy]

13. my god - 17 years? this is pure uncut kook shit....

When I was in high school, there were seniors who were 18 and freshmen (who had started early, or been bumped up a year) who were 14.

Locking up kids for this is just insane.

Even more insane is that the state treats gays and straights so differently.

Like I said - that court opinion is pure uncut kook shit - it shames me that the people who wrote the opinion call themselves Americans, and that they have been given positions of authority...

[DemLikr]

14. I'm gay, grew up in kansas, got the hell out about 30 years too late

This ruling and attitude does not surprise me one bit.

[Brian_Expat]

17. The ruling is unlikely to stand for long. . .

. . . the Supreme Court's ruling under Lawrence was VERY clear, and the Kansas Appeal court's ruling was a big middle finger to the Supremes. Next stop is the Kansas Supreme Court, who are likely to be mindful of the Lawrence ruling, which said you cannot have one standard for gays and another for straights.

This ruling is clearly contrary to the USSC's ruling. The sad part is they'd rather "go down fighting" than submit to the constitutional order. Scary and sad.

[Character Assassin]

18. Indeed. This looks awfully shaky, esp. from a 14th Amendment standpoint

[rumguy]

19. I'm sure it will get struck down - EP violations all over the place - but

ya gotta wonder how did the judges who wrote this opinion get to where they are today

[arcane1]

20. they get there thanks to shit-heads like Pat Robertson

he spent he entire 1980's encouraging his 700 Club viewers to get into politics, specifically local politics, school boards, etc, where little attention is paid to who is who.

The next civil war is going to end up being fought over ridiculous nonsense like this, and it will be THEY who take up arms when forced to join us in the 21st century

sad, sad indeed...

[Robin Hood]

21. This ruling is criminal.

Laws are set to protect the minority from the majority. Did they fail to get that in law school? I am getting sooo sick and tired of this line blurring of Religion and public policy.