Should there be a uniform age of consent for sex?

[undeterred]

Poll question: Should there be a uniform age of consent for sex?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Yes. And it should be 13.

:rofl:

Or maybe 32 makes more sense - might keep the rednecks and other filthy breeding machines from overdoing it and flooding the world with their unwashed, filthy spawn.

[Warpy]

2. The problem is that it's not cut and dried

How about the 18 year old guy and his 17 year old girlfriend? How about the two 14 year olds? Age parity is also an issue in this thing. Age discrepancy and power discrepancy also need to be considered.

A five year difference doesn't mean much to people over 30, but it means a great deal when it's a 13 year old and an 18 year old.

There is no way the numbers can simply be set into stone.

[HockeyMom]

10. Why most states include 3-5 year age differentials

in the law concerning minors. I even discussed this with my daughter who had turned 18 as a Senior in HS and was dating a boy who was 15 and a half in his Sophomore year.

She didn't think it was funny. Neither did the boy. His parents, who we were friends with, thought it was hilarious.

[SPKrazy]

18. I Had A Similar Situation Myself

I was 16, my girlfriend was 19 at that time
my parents were not happy
her parents were okay with it

we were going to get married

thank GOD we didn't!

insanity is what it was

[sandnsea]

13. But it is set in stone

According to your profile, you're from NM. The age of consent in your state is 17. So your 18 and 17 year old are just fine. Between the ages of 13 and 18, there must be within 4 years. So your 14 year olds are fine. But 13 and 18 is more than 4 years, and illegal. Set in stone, not too complicated.

[rosesaylavee]

3. The federal gov't is too active in our daily lives.

Let's have the states figure this one out.

[uppityperson]

5. Besides, people in some states just mature faster than others.

typed with a straight face and laughter inside.

[undeterred]

6. this could be true

we need to take into account "cultural differences"...

[bananas]

8. and what hormones are in the local food and water

we need to take into account environmental differences, too.

[undeterred]

9. and the drinking age

and the type of music they listen to and who their congressperson is :shrug:

[rosesaylavee]

17. Yeee ha

you bet!

[marmar]

4. I'll say yes....just because it will eliminate the interstate issue...

I.E., someone taking a minor from State A, where it's illegal, over to state B, where the age is lower, to "cohabitate." And vice versa, a couple from a state where the age is lower wouldn't face the reverse problem in a state where the age is higher.

[cynatnite]

11. It GA, I think, it's 14...some states ages are 16 and older n/t

[sandnsea]

16. It's 18 in 16 states

and 17 in 8 more. It's 14 only in Hawaii, although a couple states have 14 with parental consent. Not GA though, it looks to be 16.

http://teenadvice.about.com/library/weekly/qanda/blageofconsentchart.htm

[ProdigalJunkMail]

25. it's 16 in GA

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/Age_of_consent

sP

# Alabama: 16
# Alaska: 16
# Arizona: 18
# Arkansas: 16
# California: 18
# Colorado: 15/17
# Connecticut: 16
# District of Columbia: 16
# Delaware: 16/18
# Florida: 16/18
# Georgia: 16
# Hawaii: 16
# Idaho: 16/18
# Illinois:17
# Indiana: 16
# Iowa: 14/16
# Kansas: 16
# Kentucky: 16
# Louisiana: 17
# Maine: 16
# Maryland: 16
# Massachusetts 16/18
# Michigan: 16
# Minnesota: 16
# Mississippi: 16
# Missouri: 14/17
# Montana: 16/18
# Nebraska: 17
# Nevada: 18 homosexual, 16 heterosexual
# New Hampshire: 18 homosexual, 16 heterosexual
# New Jersey:16
# New Mexico: must not be 4 or more years older than teen
# New York: 17
# North Carolina: 16
# North Dakota: 18
# Ohio: 16
# Oklahoma: 16
# Oregon: 18
# Pennsylvania: 16
# Rhode Island: 16
# South Carolina: 14/16 (bill pending 03/2002)
# South Dakota: 16
# Tennessee: 18
# Texas: 17
# Utah: 16/18
# Vermont: 16
# Virginia: 18
# Washington: 16/18
# West Virginia: 16 18? 18?

But I don't know if this ever passed in GA raising it to 18 http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/fulltext/hb722.htm

sP

[novalib]

7. YES!!

And it should be 12!!

It is the fuss that adults make over sex that messes 12-year-olds up.

Not sex itself.

And, make sure all kids prior to 12-years received adequate -- and standardized -- sex ed.

[Nikia]

12. The Supreme Court ruled that it was up to the states

I forget the particuliar case it has to do with the tenth amendment.

[BlooInBloo]

14. I'm with them - I suspect the primary rationale was that...

... the Consitution doesn't say anything about it, even by the weakest implication.

[undeterred]

23. How much voice did women and children get in writing the Constitution?

[sandnsea]

15. We have both

There are laws that apply only to the state where the individuals live, and there are huge variances.

Then there are federal laws that apply when sexual activity has gone across state lines. We all know the old Mann Act, but there's also mail porn rings, illegal telephone sex, and online porn laws. From what I've gotten so far, the federal age for online porn is 17. But a lot of those laws have been challenged along freedom of speech lines, so I'm not sure what is still law and what isn't.

But anyway, there's been both state and federal laws on sexual activity for a long long time.

[philosophie_en_rose]

19. Yes. And it should be 18.

If you have sex with someone under the age of 18, and you are more than three years older than that person - you are exploiting a minor.

re: "seduction" by minors - NAMBLA uses this one too. But adults have a disparate level of power, and, therefore, more responsibility. If you sell drugs, because someone asks you for drugs - you are still a drug dealer. Similarly, if you have sex with a minor, because you think they want it - you are still a statutory rapist.

re: "oppression" by the government - NAMBLA uses this argument too. But if a person cannot wait to have sex until they are an adult - they are not mature enough to be having sex in the first place. Putting sex before the adult's risk of criminal conviction is a sign of severe immaturity. Children and Teenagers have more rights than adults. They have the right to not have sex with adults that are prey upon people too inexperienced to recognize exploitation.

[readmoreoften]

20. So someone who is 21 should go to jail...

if the girl he went on a date with lied about her age and was one month shy of her 18th birthday? That would just needlessly destroy people's lives.

[readmoreoften]

21. Frankly, I don't give a shit so long as its the same for gays & straights.

The fact that an 18 year old boy got a 17 year prison term for getting a consensual blowjob from a 16 year old boy in a Kansas homeless shelter makes me want to break things. (Meanwhile, if an 18 year old straight boy gets a blow job from a 16 year old girl it's only a year and a half sentence in the same jurisdiction.)

[undeterred]

24. that's totally bizarre

[VeggieTart]

22. I like the age difference rule

There's a big difference between a 22-year-old guy and a 52-year-old guy. Granted, under the scenarios mentioned, a 22-year-old would still be in trouble for engaging in sexual activity (virtual or actual) with a 16-year-old, but I would find it less upsetting than a 52-year-old engaging in such activity with the same 16-year-old