AlterNet: 15 Shocking Tales of How Sex Laws Are Screwing the American People

[marmar]

15 Shocking Tales of How Sex Laws Are Screwing the American People

By Ellen Friedrichs, AlterNet. Posted June 12, 2009.

In the land of the free, the freedom to express your sexuality can land you in prison.




The older I get, the luckier I feel not to have been busted for breaking a sex law. It’s not that I have been doing anything particularly scandalous. Public sex sure isn’t my thing, and I’m not in the habit of spamming my friends and colleagues with XXX emails. But in a world where a teen can get arrested for texting a boyfriend her own nudie shots, I don't want to take anything for granted.

Really though, my clean record probably has as much to do with where I've lived, as with what I've done. Growing up in Canada, meant that I didn’t worry about the legal ramifications of losing my virginity to my high school boyfriend. Had I spent those angst-ridden years in Texas, or even Maine, I could have been charged with the crime of underage sex.

Similarly, accompanying a terrified 16-year-old to a New York City clinic for an abortion a few years back could have been illegal if I had done the same thing in many of the 34 states with parental consent and notification laws for this procedure.

....(snip)....

1) Over the past year, New York City has seen thirty-four gay men arrested for prostitution in what many people are calling an anti-gay sting operation. One case, reported by the New York Times, involved Robert Pinter, a fifty-three-year old massage therapist, who was approached by an undercover police officer in the adult section of a video store. As Pinter told the Times, “ was very charming and cute, and we agreed to leave the store and engage in consensual sex.” Pinter explained that man then offered him $50 for doing so--an offer which he says did not respond to. Once outside, Pinter was handcuffed and arrested on charges of, “loitering for the purpose of prostitution.” The relationship between gay men and the police has often been far from harmonious (hell, arrests of gay men in the sixties are what prompted the Stonewall riots in 1969), and this situation has renewed fears that old habits die hard.

2) Despite the fact that Georgia has some real problems with youth sexual health -- among other things it boasts the eighth highest teen pregnancy rate in the country -- this state has put a lot more effort into targeting teens than it has into helping them stay safe. One particularly outlandish case involves a young man named Genarlow Wilson. Genarlow was recently freed after serving almost three years in a Georgia prison. He had been sent there at seventeen for getting a blow job from a consenting fifteen-year-old girl. Though Generlow was only two years older than the girl, in Georgia, he was above the age of consent and she was below it. As a result, the high school senior was charged with aggravated child molestation. At the time, Georgia had a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years for this crime, so that's what he got. A year into his sentence, the law was changed to make the maximum penalty a still pretty serious twelve months in jail. Even so, it took another two years for a judge to order Genarlow's release. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/sex/140591/15_shocking_tales_of_how_sex_laws_are_screwing_the_american_people/

[ejpoeta]

1. yeah, we're great here aren't we. all prudish and assinine about sex.

Because we like to think we are puritan or something. still stuck on the notion that sex is bad, and finding any way to ruin a person's life when there are two young teens engaging in consensual sex. I think it's ridiculous, personally. So much for individual rights and things like that. And, depending on when that second thing happened, that guy probably has to register as a sex offender now.

Yes, we in the land of the free are very very uptight about anything having to do with sex. The idea that a girl can be charged with a crime for sending her own picture to someone is insane. It's her body, and she should be able to do what she wants. The only crime she should be accused of is stupidity. And maybe her parents should have talked to her about sex and her body and stuff (which i will bet they probably didn't do). Girls are raised to think their worth is in their body and their looks. But a person shouldn't be charged with a crime for doing something that may not be the smartest thing to do.

[datasuspect]

2. "cleavage of the buttocks"

cleavage of the buttocks

[get the red out]

3. Oh but these crimes are important to prosecute!

So much more important that spending that time on prosecuting murderers, rapists, burglers, armed robbers......and it gives the authorities such a feeling of superiority, anyone can feel superior to a murderer or rapist, but this is special! :sarcasm:

[Hugabear]

5. It's all about the sex, drugs, and rock & roll

Those are the "crimes" that America really gets worked up about. It's pretty fucking sad when you can get in more trouble for having a stash of pot or coke than for fucking KILLING SOMEONE.

[BolivarianHero]

4. I would have no problem...

if the law makers responsible for these travesties were sent to concentration camps.