On a recent outing I realized that I have no idea how old people are. I mean, I know when they are OLD (like me - clearly above age) but when they are young - how old are they? My 16 y.o. daughter gets mistaken for being in her 20s - A LOT! My just turned 21 y.o. is mistaken for being a lot older. (Well, she is 6'1".)
So, if a girl say - 16 y.o., tells a guy - say 20 - that she is "old enough" or that she is 18 or 20 & they have consensual sex - what the heck?! I mean - too many times it truly is the girl leading the guy down the path. Why did she lie in the first place? It is not her first time, right?
So, guys (especially - I am being sexist but this is a fairly sexist law - although I do know they prosecute teachers for female on male) should be checking i.d.s. But then what about these girls who have fake i.d.s? What about the girls in bars, drink in hand (which indicates 21 or older in Texas) - should a guy be held accountable if he was mistaken in that way? He IS accountable under the Texas law.
Used to be that you could tell a young girl - you could tell by the lack of makeup (or minimal makeup), & you could tell by clothing that covered them. You also knew because they weren't in bars. Today, as a friend noted on FB, girls go around looking like hoochie mamas. (Another said that her husband called them prosti-tots.)
Where are these girls parents? Who buys, lets them buy, or lets them go out, dressed that way?! And why are they in bars acting like adults?
What's the answer to this? It is puzzling, and seemingly not very fair in many circumstances.
Oh, and by the way - I don't want to see the guys with their pants "sagging" halfway down their butts or their underwear showing. What the hell?! Pull your dang pants up. Who is letting their boys go out like that? Every time I see someone dressed like that I wonder (1) how many times their pants have fallen down & (2) how uncomfortable that must be.
[I don't hesitate to tell my clients I, nor the court has any interest in seeing boobs, cracks or underwear - dress appropriately. I have even been known to make that a condition of my contract. ; 0]
Just some food for thought.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
9 comments:
I appreciate comments but you must include your name to be posted. If you want to e-mail just me, do so - don't comment here. Any posting or comments made here are not intended to be legal advice. If you have a situation that does or may involve criminal law, seek the advice of an attorney via telephone or in-person meeting. I am not responsible for the contents of comments.
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I am glad you are back in Blogland....
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think I'll write more about this kind of stuff then get back to trial blogging. Got a trial coming up in a week . . .
ReplyDeleteI also find it troubling that a man can be prosecuted when the girl holds herself out to be older. It's one thing to "go after" underage girls, it's another thing when the girl turns out to be underaged.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like to sag my wranglers. It's gettin' harder and harder to get them buttoned up these days. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a friend, a criminal defense lawyer in Kansas, who told one of her clients it was no wonder he kept getting arrested... after all, how could he run from the police with his pants hanging down around his knees?
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Cyn -- interesting post too, but I suppose that if a 21 y.o. picks up a 16 y.o. in a bar with a fake ID, you could make a reasonably good case to a jury. Still, it's a shame that a def. might have to go all the way to trial for a resolution.
ReplyDeleteAnd I might start using the "prosti-tot" label, with attribution, of course.
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteThis is the first of your blogs that I have ever read, but I think it is great. I agree with you almost entirely. As I've gotten older I have found that it is much harder for me to judge the age of those significantly younger than me, i.e. 20 years or more. Now, I'm not blind so I can usually tell that a 16 y.o. is younger than a 26 y.o., but I've been in places and saw young ladies drinking and even being carded that I would NEVER have believed they were of legal age. Now when I was that age, I could tell within a couple of years. And I also knew that the fake I.D. would never see the light of day if I did get into trouble.
Unfortunately, Feisty, it is a strict liability crime which means all the State has to do is prove the age of the 2 and that they had sex - even consensual sex. A person under 17 cannot consent to sex by law, and if someone has sex with someone under 17 and they are even 1 day more than 3 years older than the youngester - there is no issue for the jury to decide (unless they refuse to follow the law or there is a denial that sexual intercourse or touching occurred.)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I'm glad you participated with comments. You might be interested in the series I wrote about a trial I had. It is 15 parts but I think it is a fairly easy read. It is called Team Court & Prosecutrix v. me. It is numbered. You should read in order but it started in February. It will give you a real flavor of the lack of justice that frequently occurs. Thanks for joining in.
ReplyDelete