Kansas Court: Gay Underage Sex Is Not Worse
“Moral disapproval of a group cannot be a legitimate state interest,” said Justice Marla Luckert, writing for the high court.
A mildly retarded, 18-year-old boy who was sentenced to 17 years in jail for giving a blowjob to a 14-year-old boy will have his sentence reconsidered. Kansas has a law that gives shorter sentences to offenders who are under 19, but it only applies to opposite-sex encounters. This distinction was justified thusly:
A lower court had said the state could justify the harsher punishment as protecting children’s traditional development, fighting disease or strengthening traditional values.
Which is crap. Being that the convicted boy has now served longer than the maximum sentence for a straight offense, he should be released shortly.
[via Sullivan]