Kline will not appeal ruling on gay underage sex

[kweerwolf]

Attorney General Phil Kline said today he will not appeal last month's Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the state cannot impose harsher penalties for underage sex because the two individuals are of the same gender.

In a one-sentence statement, Kline said he made the decision "after careful review and consideration."

<snip>

The Romeo and Juliet statute allows for lesser penalties for teenagers convicted of having sexual relations with a 14- or 15-year-old if the offender is less than four years older than the victim.

Limon was 18 years old when he was convicted of criminal sodomy and sentenced to 17 years for having consensual sex with a 14-year-old boy. If he had been convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, the maximum sentence would have been 15 months.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/breaking_news/13185033.htm

[atommom]

1. That reminds me ... there's an anti-Phill blog.

And, if we're lucky, there will be enough anti-Phill people to vote him out next time!

http://firephillkline.blogspot.com/

[MuseRider]

2. Wow, this is great news.

I have been too busy to keep up. Thanks for posting this. I wonder what (or who) got to him? He did not make this decision all by himself I am pretty certain.

[beyurslf]

3. The sad part is Limon is still in jail waiting to be "re-sentenced"

even though he has spent several years in jail already.

[kevinbgoode]

5. Why does he need to be re-sentenced?

He served his time. . .I thought he was supposed to be released. That stupid attorney general should have his butt thrown in jail for impersonating a human being.

[beyurslf]

6. When the Court throws a sentence but not the conviction, the person

has to be re-sentenced. They are not released until then. Presumably, he will be given time served (plus about 5 years extra). Maybe they can store that in a savings account in case he ever gets in any more trouble.

[kweerwolf]

7. No, he was released late last Thursday or Friday

There was initially some talk that he wouldn't be released until a decision was made to re-try him and/or whether to appeal the state Supreme Court's verdict.

Fortunately, it was decided at the last minute to release him into the custody of family members.

[kevinbgoode]

4. He made the decision after realizing that his butt would get kicked

and that all the religious tyranny he could muster was likely not yet powerful enough to completely destroy the constitutional rights of gay Americans.

I suspect, if he is up for re-election next year, that he'll be swept out of office along with the fundie State School Board.

[kweerwolf]

8. Yes, Phill the Pill is up for re-election

His opponent in the general election will be a prosecutor who switched party affiliation from Repug to Dem in order to run against him.

I have my fingers crossed that Phill will get tossed, but there are an awful lot of very conservatives Repugs in Kansas who will vote for Kline for no other reason than "he's against killin' innocent unborn babies." Let's hope there are enough moderate Republicans who will vote Democratic in this race to get the loony out of office.