[aristeides]

If children were capable of giving consent to sex at age 12 in the 19th century, what about them changed to make them incapable of giving consent today?

[CobaltBlue]

Social mores have changed. This probably isn't what you want to hear, but if you study the history of the Supreme Court it's the truth. They don't live in ivory towers, they live right here in the DC metro area, and read the same newspapers and magazines and watch the same TV that we all do. It's unrealistic to expect them to think exactly as the Founding Fathers did, many of whom, for example, owned slaves, and most of whom thought women should not work outside the home.