Ken Cuccinelli is using an archaic but on-the-books sodomy law to prosecute a sex offender for soliciting a 17-year old girl. Cuccinelli’s opponents are trying to position him as anti-gay.
Here is Mann’s tweet:
The MSN story referenced in the tweet is here.
Okay, I guess you’re right: she’s 17 not 7.
So he’s a “sleazeball” not a “predator.”
I’m guilty of overreacting because preying on minors is so detestable in general.
If Cuccinelli is guilty of anything it is *that* — not anything anti-gay.
And that was my primary point (not that you disagreed with it).
Certainly the legislature should clarify these laws.
I agree that prosecutorial abuse is a serious danger, but this barely fits in that category if at all. I’ll give Cuccinelli the benefit of the doubt over Mann any day. Let a judge, jury, and appeals courts decide the rest.
Further details after research. Complications
1: The Law was never changed to comply with the legal rulings, nor does it have severability clauses that would cause the legal sections to be enforceable (because the law itself predates such clauses, which itself a complication, since a later version would certainly have such a clause).
2: In Virginia, statuatory rape of a teenager over 15 is a misdemeanor.
Best summary I could find on short notice:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080921204231AA6mBBJ
Given the fury at the “activist” courts for rewriting laws, it would be hypocritical of us to get uptight at this. The law passed by the state of Virginia says that sex with a 17 year old is a misdemeanor. I will allow Cuccinelli the benefit of the doubt that he rightfully believed this was an exceptional case that should be prosecuted as a felony. Therefore, I will not condemn him for trying to use the sodomy law. However, the court issued a ruling. I think he is foolish for attempting to force this further. Simply charge the man with the statuatory laws. If it’s truly that serious, give him his year in jail and his sex offender registration and keep an eye on him.
Yes, but manipulation by a procescuter is as bad as manipulation by Mann. I don’t appreciate either’s distortions.
Honestly they should probably make the age of consent 16 across the USA. Right now it is a hodge podge of 16 – 18 and 16 if this but 17 if that.
And older men going after younger women – it goes both ways, the younger girls want the money and power that goes with dating an older guy as well.
Check out this website
http://www.sugardaddyforme.com/
Apparently college kids (girls mostly) are using it to help get their college expenses paid.
This is manipulating the legal system to attempt to get a higher sentence. In short, by arguing that the anti-sodomy law doesn’t cover illegal consent.
These laws (which have already been struck down between consenting adults) have been used in cases of male-on-male rape in several jurisdictions where the definition of “rape” requires vaginal penetration but “sexual assault” was considered too light a charge. Therefore, there’s reasonable precedent in its use.
I think that Mann only commented on this because he hated Cuccinelli, and I think you only commented on that becasue you hate Mann.
Let’s slow down a bit on the “predator” line. The information available indicates a sleazeball taking advantage of a young woman near adulthood. The information we have, which is very limited, points more to a man who identified a potentially vulnerable adolescent, but not a child, and an adolescent who made some bad decisions. Absent coercion or force, the “predator” line in this case seems exaggerated.
The bottom line is: there is nothing anti-gay about this.
I don’t know much about law, but it seems that the VA statutory rape law needs to be changed so predators like this don’t get off too easy.
That said, the prosecutor has to deal with the laws as they exist.
Using one bad law to make up for the failings of another may be the lesser of the two evils.
I’m with Yodaddy on this. A 17-year-old is between a girl and a woman. It’s disturbing at the least that a 47-year-old is proposing sex across a 30-year gap, but the type of sex is not the issue. If it’s a misdemeanor, it’s a misdemeanor — trying to make it a felony this way does seem like “throwing the book”.
Mann’s overwhelming ego aside, one would think the statutory rape laws of VA should suffice? If not, that is where the AG should be focusing his attention. Sodomy laws are way past their due date.