United States Sex Laws

[Cole436]

Forgive me for any ignorance and the jumping point on the subject, but I was reading a discussion on another forum which dealt on the legal implications of the relationship between Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber. For anyone who doesn't know who the two are, understandable for Selena Gomez, Gomez is an 18 year old Disney product and Beiber is a 16 year old world destroying "musician".
Now Canada's sex laws are federally relegated and state the age of consent as 16 (until recently 14) with a 5 year window of consent from 14-19 and 15-20. I never realized how liberal these laws were until I researched the American laws which are state run.
Here's a few where the age of consent is 18 and it is mind blowing how much control the state has inside the bedrooms of their people.

Arizona

The age of consent in Arizona is 18. However there exist in the legislation defenses to prosecution if the defendant is close in age to the "victim" or a spouse of the "victim". Note: these are not close in age exceptions but defenses at court. Arizona Revised Statute 13-1405(A)

13-1407 (Defenses)

* B. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to sections 13-1404 and 13-1405 in which the victim's lack of consent is based on incapacity to consent because the victim was fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age if at the time the defendant engaged in the conduct constituting the offence the defendant did not know and could not reasonably have known the age of the victim.
* D. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to section 13-1404 or 13-1405 that the person was the spouse (legally married AND cohabiting) of the other person at the time of commission of the act...
* F. It is a defense to a prosecution pursuant to section 13-1405 if the victim is fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age, the defendant is under nineteen years of age or attending high school and is no more than twenty-four months older than the victim and the conduct is consensual.

These are not guarantees, only defenses used in court.
You can be charged for having sex with your wife or husband

California

The age of consent is 18, with a misdemeanor if the minor has 3 or fewer years of difference with the major, and potentially a felony if the major is more than 3 years older. It is worth emphasizing that unlike most other states, the close-in-age rule in California (3 years) do not provide an exception nor provide any defense; it merely lowers the crime to a misdemeanor. Under this law, two minors of the exact same age could both be prosecuted. Penalties increase if the minor is under 16 and the major is above 21 or if the minor is more than 3 years younger.

Literally no one can have sex in California legally if they are under 18

Virginia

The age of consent in Virginia is 18, with a close in age exception that allows teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 to engage in sexual acts but only with a partner younger than 18. However the legislation is not clear-cut, and the details are discussed below:

Any penetrative sexual act other than penile-vaginal intercourse is defined in Virginia law as 'sodomy.' Section 18.2-361 of the Code of Virginia entitled "Crimes against nature" states in part;

"If any person carnally knows in any manner any brute animal, or carnally knows any male or female person by the anus or by or with the mouth, or voluntarily submits to such carnal knowledge, he or she shall be guilty of ... felony..."

In addition, any sexual intercourse is defined in Virginia law as 'fornication.' Section 18.2-344 of the Code of Virginia entitled "Crimes against nature" states;

"Any person, not being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any other person, shall be guilty of fornication, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor."

The courts of Virginia have ruled that these statutes are not invalid under the US Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas since that case only applied to adults, and the age of majority in Virginia is 18. This means that those 18 and above involved in consensual activity in private may have a defense in court, but those under 18 do not.

Section § 18.2-63 of the Code refers to minors younger than 15, while § 18.2-371 is about 15, 16 and 17 years olds.
.

Underage homosexuality is defined as illegal

Wisconsin

The age of consent in Wisconsin is 18.

948.02 Sexual assault of a child... 2) SECOND DEGREE SEXUAL ASSAULT. Whoever has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person who has not attained the age of 16 years is guilty of a Class C felony...

948.09 Sexual intercourse with a child age 16 or older. Whoever has sexual intercourse with a child who is not the defendant’s spouse and who has attained the age of 16 years is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

Basically two 16-17 year old kids can have sex and unless they are born on the same day one can be charged with a crime.


So much for the land of the free.
It might hit a little close to me because I was only that age a few years ago, but there is a clear difference between protecting children and young adults from predators and repressing them to a state where sex, a socially constructed phenomena, is wielded as a weapon of the elites.

[Displaced Flames fan]

So much for the land of the free indeed!

American prisons and courts are chock full of sexually oppressed teenagers! These laws are at the forefront of American law enforcement's priorities and are the primary focus of said agencies.

Man, we suck!

[Ironhorse]

Thanks for the mental image of Justin Beiber naked, having sex....

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

So much for the land of the free indeed!

American prisons and courts are chock full of sexually oppressed teenagers! These laws are at the forefront of American law enforcement's priorities and are the primary focus of said agencies.

Man, we suck!

The fact that a disproving parent can legally charge a 16-18 year old kid with having sex with their kid of the same age and register him/her as a sex offender is something I have a real problem with.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cole436

The fact that a disproving parent can legally charge a 16-18 year old kid with having sex with their kid of the same age and register him/her as a sex offender is something I have a real problem with.

Yes, because parents shouldn't be relegating the sexually activity of their minor children?

Why exactly do you have a problem with it?

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Yes, because parents shouldn't be relegating the sexually activity of their minor children?

Why exactly do you have a problem with it?

You seriously think a parent should have the final say on who their nearly adult kid has sex with?
You're undermining the maturity most of us have/had at that age.
How can you think it's justice that an innocent kid can have his life ruined by this?

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Thanks for the mental image of Justin Beiber naked, having sex....

You get told Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber are having sex... and you picture Justin Beiber?

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

You get told Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber are having sex... and you picture Justin Beiber?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cole436

You seriously think a parent should have the final say on who their nearly adult kid has sex with?
You're undermining the maturity most of us have/had at that age.
How can you think it's justice that an innocent kid can have his life ruined by this?

How can you think that it's justice that an innocent girl can have her life ruined by this supposedly mature (your word) male?

A responsible and mature person in that situation wouldn't be risking his own future or the future of the girl he supposedly cares about by having sex.

I probably don't need to list for you all of the things that guys that age use to get what they want, Where is the protection for the minor?

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

How can you think that it's justice that an innocent girl can have her life ruined by this supposedly mature (your word) male?

A responsible and mature person in that situation wouldn't be risking his own future or the future of the girl he supposedly cares about by having sex.

I probably don't need to list for you all of the things that guys that age use to get what they want, Where is the protection for the minor?

They're both minors!
I'm not discussing a 30 year old having sex with a 15 year old, I'm saying two people under 18 or exactly the same age.
Are you implying that even close to any of these cases involve girls having their lives ruined by having sex with their boyfriends or hooking up with a guy at a party? Because those are the people who can be and have been targeted with these laws.
Would you be ok if you at 17 had sex with your 17 year old girlfriend and was charged as a sex offender?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cole436

They're both minors!
I'm not discussing a 30 year old having sex with a 15 year old, I'm saying two people under 18 or exactly the same age.
Are you implying that even close to any of these cases involve girls having their lives ruined by having sex with their boyfriends or hooking up with a guy at a party? Because those are the people who can be and have been targeted with these laws.
Would you be ok if you at 17 had sex with your 17 year old girlfriend and was charged as a sex offender?

I never said I agreed with all the laws.

You cited Canadian laws with a 5 year window, which is absurd IMO.

The fact that you (and millions of other people) refer to sex as 'hooking up' these days is a big part of the problem, especially when talking about minors. Sex is a grown up activity with grown up consequences.

If, at 17, I thought my girlfriends parents would have me charged with a crime I would keep it in my pants. I realize there are a lot of guys your age who simply can't do that.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Yes, because parents shouldn't be relegating the sexually activity of their minor children?

Parents who don't know the difference between regulating and relegating certainly shouldn't.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by SebC

Parents who don't know the difference between regulating and relegating certainly shouldn't.

Agreed! Read the OP. You didn't notice the italics? I'm not sure what a disproving parent is either, for the record, but I didn't work that one in.

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

I never said I agreed with all the laws.

You cited Canadian laws with a 5 year window, which is absurd IMO.

The fact that you (and millions of other people) refer to sex as 'hooking up' these days is a big part of the problem, especially when talking about minors. Sex is a grown up activity with grown up consequences.

If, at 17, I thought my girlfriends parents would have me charged with a crime I would keep it in my pants. I realize there are a lot of guys your age who simply can't do that.

Sex is a social construct which society has built, what you think it is and what I think it is are two very different things, and whether we disagree on it and neither are wrong.

Sex is an act which has consequences which are drilled into children's heads since they are able understand simple math. People aren't magically going to realize the consequences and the protection sex has and needs when they turn 18, they already know it and it should not be something to be punished.

Children are children and should be protected with the utmost scrutiny but when you start hitting 16 and up, people are educated enough to know the responsibilities and consequences and in most of these cases, it's a victimless crime which derails a lot of kids futures.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Sex is a social construct which society has built, what you think it is and what I think it is are two very different things, and whether we disagree on it and neither are wrong.

Sex is an act which has consequences which are drilled into children's heads since they are able understand simple math. People aren't magically going to realize the consequences and the protection sex has and needs when they turn 18, they already know it and it should not be something to be punished.

Children are children and should be protected with the utmost scrutiny but when you start hitting 16 and up, people are educated enough to know the responsibilities and consequences and in most of these cases, it's a victimless crime which derails a lot of kids futures.

That depends completely on the situation.

We'll see if you feel the same if you are lucky enough to have a teenage daughter someday. Or unlucky enough

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

That depends completely on the situation.

We'll see if you feel the same if you are lucky enough to have a teenage daughter someday. Or unlucky enough

Of course it depends on the situation, if it's some scumbag who's selling dope on the corner of 7th and has a rap sheet longer then your arm, that's appropriate in my opinion. But just the fact that some uptight parent can ruin a good kids life really bothers me.

Hah, now that's a scary thought.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Cole436

You seriously think a parent should have the final say on who their nearly adult kid has sex with?
You're undermining the maturity most of us have/had at that age.
How can you think it's justice that an innocent kid can have his life ruined by this?

A parent, who is responsible for their child most certainly has the final say in if their non-adult child can have sex with. You throw nearly adult around as though 'close enough' is something that people shouldn't worry about. You need to have a waiver form from a parent to participate in a dangerous activity as a minor, why should sex be any different? You could die from it. You could ruin your's or someone else's life with it.

If a parent thinks their kid is mature enough to have sex, then they are allowed to. It is simple as that. Would you rather the legal system decide? Set some arbitrary limit?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Of course it depends on the situation, if it's some scumbag who's selling dope on the corner of 7th and has a rap sheet longer then your arm, that's appropriate in my opinion. But just the fact that some uptight parent can ruin a good kids life really bothers me.

Hah, now that's a scary thought.

Where is the kid's responsibility? You're laying the blame on an uptight parent. Why is the kid not responsible for his actions? He's the one making the choice here.

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Rathji

A parent, who is responsible for their child most certainly has the final say in if their non-adult child can have sex with. You throw nearly adult around as though 'close enough' is something that people shouldn't worry about. You need to have a waiver form from a parent to participate in a dangerous activity as a minor, why should sex be any different? You could die from it. You could ruin your's or someone else's life with it.

If a parent thinks their kid is mature enough to have sex, then they are allowed to. It is simple as that. Would you rather the legal system decide? Set some arbitrary limit?

That's exactly what these laws constitute!
Of course a parent should have input and have a strong presence, but I wasn't 17 too long ago and I know that my thought process hasn't changed drastically since, which is probably the same for most of you in your early to mid twenties. You don't suddenly grow up at 18. And I know there are always exceptions, but for the most part a person is pretty well together by the time they hit that age.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Sex is a social construct which society has built,

This sentence really sounds like it was built by a recent visit to "Introduction to Sociology". What do you mean it's a "social construct"? It's biology. We didn't make it up.

Originally Posted by Cole436

Children are children and should be protected with the utmost scrutiny but when you start hitting 16 and up, people are educated enough to know the responsibilities and consequences and in most of these cases, it's a victimless crime which derails a lot of kids futures.

Does it really derail a lot of kid's futures? This whole thread seems kind of weird to me. It's like you've dug up a bunch of arcane rules that nobody pays attention to and are saying it's a terrible problem. Is it?