Justices Void Prison Term Given Gay Teenager in Kansas

New York Times ^ | June 27, 2003 | DAVID STOUT

[Stingray51]

WASHINGTON, June 27 — In one of the first consequences of its landmark ruling on gay rights on Thursday, the Supreme Court today set aside the lengthy prison sentence imposed on a gay Kansas teenager for having had sex with a younger boy.

In a brief order with little elaboration, the court vacated the 17-year sentence imposed in 2000 on the defendant, Matthew Limon, and returned the case to the Kansas courts "for further consideration in light of Lawrence v. Texas."

The case of Lawrence v. Texas, which was decided on Thursday and overturned an Texas antisodomy law, upheld the constitutional right of gay people to engage in sexual activity in private.

The court's directive today that the Kansas courts reconsider the Limon case with Lawrence v. Texas in mind was tantamount to an instruction to set aside the prison term imposed on Mr. Limon, and perhaps to take a close look at what has been called the state's "Romeo and Juliet Law."

The statute gained that nickname in some legal circles because it regards oral sex differently when it involves heterosexual teenage couples, as opposed to youths of the same sex.

When one member of the couple is aged 14 to 16 and the other is older, the act is statutory rape under the Kansas law and the most common penalty is probation if the two are heterosexual. But probation is not available to same-sex teenage couples.

Matthew Limon was one week past his 18th birthday in early 2000 when he performed oral sex on a 14-year-old boy at the center for developmentally disabled young people where they both lived. No violence or coercion was involved.

Had Mr. Limon performed oral sex on a 14-year-old girl, he could have received a prison sentence of about 15 months, and possibly just probation. Instead, he is now about three years into a 17-year sentence in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility. Under his sentence, he was also ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release.

The American Civil Liberties Union has rallied behind Mr. Limon's case. The organization says it is not challenging a state's right to punish older teenagers for having sex with younger ones, but rather that the rules should not be different for same-sex couples and heterosexual couples.

[Stingray51]

So, yesterday, the decision was portrayed by the mainstream media as simply protecting the harmless activities of people in private. Now, we see that its effects will go much further.

[dark_lord]

Heh heh. So the punishment for this guy who likes to give oral sex to other men was --- to send him to prison!!!! I can hear him now: "oohhh brother bear, ooohhh brother fox, please please don't throw me in that old briar patch" (said brother rabbit).

[ImaGraftedBranch]

And so it begins. People that think that this was simply a privacy issue don't understand the chain reaction that this is now brining.

[Bahbah]

I feel surrounded by dominoes and they are all falling. I thought Scalia saying "Don't you believe it." sounded a little harsh. Now I believe he knew exactly what they were up to, and was warning us as clearly as he could.

[Paleo Conservative]

So they also abolished an age of consent too. This means statutory rape laws will be the next to be ruled unconstitutional.

[darkwing104]

Matthew Limon was one week past his 18th birthday in early 2000 when he performed oral sex on a 14-year-old boy at the center for developmentally disabled young people where they both lived. No violence or coercion was involved.

And the ACLU supports this? They are just as sick as the perp. This is beyond disgusting.

[MineralMan]

"Instead, he is now about three years into a 17-year sentence in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility"

Seventeen years for a couple of boys fooling around? I'm sorry, but that seems a bit excessive to me. And these were "developmentally disabled" kids at that.

You might not even get that long a sentence for second-degree murder in a lot of states.

[Stingray51]

I hope you are kidding.

[Lunatic Fringe]

When one member of the couple is aged 14 to 16 and the other is older, the act is statutory rape under the Kansas law and the most common penalty is probation if the two are heterosexual. But probation is not available to same-sex teenage couples.

Much like Lawrence vs. Texas, this law is DISCRIMINATORY. This has nothing to do with privacy. One penalty for heteros and another for homos? This is not America.

[MineralMan]

"I hope you are kidding.
"

No, I'm not kidding at all. Locking some 18-year-old up for 17 years for oral sex with another kid just doesn't make any sense to me at all. Nobody was coerced. Nobody was violently injured. In fact, it sounds like they both wanted it.

Whether or not you see such behavior as a crime, this sentence was way excessive. Remember, had this boy been performing oral sex on a girl, he would have gotten probation or a short sentence.

No, I'm not kidding. I'm also not gay, in case you thought I was.

[Buffalo Bob]

Clean
De-prime
Resize
Prime
Fill
Seat
Crimp

Practice and get ready

[DoughtyOne]

The camel in the closet on this issue is this.

Folks, this seventeen year old wasn't a homosexual. Don't you folks realize that homosexuals don't assault minors? Whew, where have you all been?

LMAO

It didn't take ten seconds for the ACLU to find a case where a homosexual was involved in child abuse, when the claim has been for years that homosexuals never abuse children.

[radiohead]

lol

your name is apt, my lord.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

It's the slippery slope to hell.

[BlueNgold]

The details of these stories gimme the heebee-jeebee, and somehow I am guessing there is more to come soon ...

So, who's up for a trip to a heterosexual affirmation event .. err .. strip club?

[MineralMan]

"Clean
De-prime
Resize
Prime
Fill
Seat
Crimp

Practice and get ready"

And who are you planning to shoot with all that ammunition? That kid? The judges? Me?

[BlueNgold]

OK, by some definitions Fresno is 'near' SF. So is the Freeper staff now in danger of being called 'profaggot' - get a grip.

[weegee]

So much for the chorus of "this is consenting adults". The culprit was 17 and the other participant was younger.