None of your examples should be a crime. Of course the legislature of a State can make it a crime, but it does have to meet Constitutional merits which I don’t think they do.
Making sex a felony under specific circumstances but not regarding age or power seems to be arbitrary to me and simply up to the particular State. That alone should make you think about it.
It is only a felony (if State law says so) until someone brings the case to the Supreme Court and it is overturned (Unfortunately way too many laws have to go that route to be overturned). That is our system, slow but eventually seems to work things out accurately (usually)...
Logic does seem to me that any felony should pertain to an action - not an action if...
Of course I could and am often wrong, but logic would seem to support me...
Perhaps you would be more comfortable posting your opinions on DU.
Interesting that you would not make sex between a prison guard and their prisoner a crime. I certainly would not make my examples 1 nor 2 a crime. And I tend to agree with you about 3, the teacher and of age students.
But alas the courts tend to defer to the legislature and those who want to control others have found that majorities often are willing to support laws against sex they do not like. Or maybe I should say courts tend to defer to legislatures except when groups who vote Dim come before them and the higher percentage of the group that votes Dim, the more likely they will have special exceptions to the law carved out for them.
And the courts are all over on issues like this. Sodomy laws are unconstitutional, but I bet laws like the one we are discussing have a shot a being upheld.
Why do you think the law is unconstitutional, rather than just bad policy. (I don't think it's either)
Although I might argue that it should not be a felony, but rather a mandatory firing offense, with the additional provision that the person's teaching certificate be revoked and never reissued.
What specific part of the Constitution do you think this law violates. Not equal protection, all in the same circumstances suffer the same penalty. There is a "reasonable basis" for the law. It's certainly not arbitrary.