https://www.washingtonexaminer...DUaY28ZEWNwTHZ7hM8aE

California legislators passed a law Monday easing sex offender registry rules for those who commit sodomy or other sex acts with minors in order to end “discrimination against LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry.”

The bill, which now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, would "exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register,” according to the bill.

Adults less than 10 years older than the minor they are convicted of engaging in oral or anal sex with are not automatically added to the sex-offender registry. The decision whether or not to add them is left up to a judge under the new bill, referred to as SB145.

Under current state law, judges are given discretion to keep teenagers off the sex-offender registry for having sex with someone close to their own age, but it only applies to “penile-vaginal” intercourse, and gay and transgender rights advocates argue this discriminates against gay teenagers.

“This eliminates discrimination against LGBTQ youth in our criminal justice system,” the bill’s sponsor, San Francisco Democratic state Rep. Scott Wiener said about the legislation.

“SB 145 ends discrimination against #LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry. Currently, these youth are forced onto the registry for consensual sex — even if a judge doesn’t think it’s appropriate — in situations where straight youth are not,” Wiener added in a Facebook post. “This discrimination destroys lives.”

The bill passed through the 80-member state Assembly by a vote of 41-18, before being approved in the 40-member Senate by a vote of 23-10 with some legislators voicing their objection.

“I cannot in my mind as a mother understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registrable offense,” Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez said. “We should never give up on this idea that children should be in no way subject to a predator.”

Newsom has until the end of September to sign the bill into law.

I marvel at the equality

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Under current state law, judges are given discretion to keep teenagers off the sex-offender registry for having sex with someone close to their own age, but it only applies to “penile-vaginal” intercourse, and gay and transgender rights advocates argue this discriminates against gay teenagers.

This part I actually agree with. That's discriminatory.

Charging/sentencing enhancements for "sodomy" are obsolete vestiges of a more puritanical time. Sexual contact is sexual contact. There shouldn't be legal distinctions between "acceptable" (penile-vaginal) penetration and "unacceptable" (oral, anal, etc.) penetration between consenting persons. The Supreme Court agreed in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. On the flip side, rape/sexual assault is rape/sexual assault, regardless of where the nonconsenting victim was penetrated. One type isn't more traumatic or "worse" than another.


And while children should certainly be protected from adult predators, there needs to be the leeway to take into account similarly-aged teenagers, no matter their sexual orientation. I know the first choice, especially for all the parents out there, would be for no teenagers to be having sex at all, but we all know that's simply not realistic... And believe it or not, when a senior turns 18 there's not a switch in their head that automatically flips and suddenly makes them stop pursuing the cute underclassmen, a boyfriend/girlfriend don't suddenly stop dating just because one of them hits a magic number on paper, and high school girls go to college parties specifically to try to hook up with college guys.

However, a 10 year "grace period" is too large of a span. Way, way too large.

Arkansas has a similar "grace period" for sexual contact between similarly-aged teenagers, but it's only 3 years. That's much more understandable than 10, considering there's way less difference between a 15 year old and an 18 year old, or a 13 and 16 year old (who may attend school together, have the same social circle, have similar maturity levels, etc.) than there is between something like a 15 year old and a 25 year old, or an 11 and 21 year old (who have nothing in common social/maturity-wise).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

The absolute scumminess of Cal. boggles the mind.

Any announcement from NAMBLA?

This guy gets it

Sounds like a needed adjustment to ensure laws are applied predictably and fairly.

Just from parsing out the article: Under the old law, a 20 year old getting a blowie from a 17 year old would AUTOMATICALLY end up on the sex offenders registry, even though registration would be discretionary if they were having vaginal sex. That is a stupid outcome.

Don't let the 10 year gap thing distract you. It's up to a judge to decide whether the age gap is close enough to warrant leniency. There's no point in giving a judge discretion, but then giving too narrow an age gap to work with.

For example, there may be circumstances where a mature 17.5 year old male getting frisky with a 26 year old grad student isn't really enough to ruin the 26 year old's life. She'll still likely get slapped with a criminal charge, but she isn't likely some sexual predator that needs to appear on a registry.

The author of the bill is the openly-gay Democrat from San Francisco. Last name of Wiener.

quote:

Sounds like a needed adjustment to ensure laws are applied predictably and fairly.

This is one of those topics that many on our side of the fence simply jump to conclusions on. The majority of those with issues regarding these types of changes (falsely) believe that you must be 18 to legally engage in any sex act, and also (falsely) believe that anybody who engages with a sex act with anybody younger than 18 is a pedophile.

I think it is this type of thinking that has lead to the mess that the associated laws have created. I'm a big believer in cleaning up laws. Fewer, simpler, more consistent.

They're building the wall on the wrong border.

The good news is that in addition to attracting the homeless, California will now attract perverts from all over the country thus reducing the number who reside elsewhere in the US. They have my thanks for that unintended consequence.