capnzebbie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
capnzebbie) wrote2005-10-22 06:55 pm
capnzebbie) wrote2005-10-22 06:55 pm
A step in the right direction
From PlanetOut
One of the most frustrating cases on the gay rights docket has reached a happy conclusion after several years of court losses. Matthew Limon, now 23, will not have to spend 17 years behind bars for a consensual sexual episode that took place a week after his 18th birthday with another male teenager.
On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state's sentencing laws unconstitutionally subject same-sex teens' sexual encounters to far harsher punishment than heterosexual teen trysts.
The court used the lowest standard of judicial review, giving the state of Kansas every opportunity to come up with a reasonable explanation for the vast discrepancy between its treatment of gay and straight teens. But the state attorneys failed the test.
Limon's case has always appeared to be, in the words of ACLU Gay and Lesbian Rights Project director Matt Coles, "a no-brainer." The Kansas "Romeo and Juliet" law, as it's nicknamed, protects youthful sex offenders from being charged under adult sodomy statutes when they are involved in consensual sex with other teenagers around their own age. A section of the statute specifies, however, that it only applies to opposite-sex couples. As such, Matthew Limon was charged not under Romeo and Juliet, but under criminal sodomy laws.
Due to a couple of similar infractions in Limon's past, the young man was sentenced to 206 months in prison, a term of over 17 years. Under Romeo and Juliet, a first offender would get probation, while a third offender like Limon would be sentenced to just over a year. Limon appealed the sentence to the Kansas Court of Appeals, but lost in early 2002. He then asked the Kansas Supreme Court to take the case, but the justices declined.
In early 2003, the ACLU petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the matter. A long silence ensued. Then in late June, a day or so after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, the high court sent Limon's case back to the Kansas appellate court with instructions to take another look at the case in view of the Lawrence ruling.
Not only did the Lawrence ruling strike laws against consensual adult sodomy, it also overturned the 1986 anti-gay precedent of Bowers v. Hardwick, which the Kansas court had previously used to justify Limon's tough treatment.
The Kansas appellate court dutifully reviewed Limon's arguments again, but -- to the astonishment of gay rights supporters -- it returned with yet another ruling in favor of the state. The Lawrence decision, said the court, applied to adults, not minors. This time the Kansas Supreme Court agreed to review the matter.
In a 19-page ruling, the Kansas justices agreed that Lawrence v. Texas controls the case. Matthew Limon was treated far differently than a teenager caught in a heterosexual act, the court wrote, and the state of Kansas was not able to present a legitimate state interest to justify its unequal policy.
The court ordered the Romeo and Juliet statute revised, deleting the section that refers to the gender of the offenders. Further, the justices ordered the state to recharge Limon under Romeo and Juliet within 30 days, or "take other action." Presumably, the state will simply unlock the prison door.
"As of today, Matthew Limon has already served four years and five months longer than a heterosexual teenager would have received for the same act," said the ACLU's Lisa Brunner in a statement. "He has long since paid his debt to society, and we're thrilled that he will be going home to his family soon."
This is the part I think is most important: "In a 19-page ruling, the Kansas justices agreed that Lawrence v. Texas controls the case. Matthew Limon was treated far differently than a teenager caught in a heterosexual act, the court wrote, and the state of Kansas was not able to present a legitimate state interest to justify its unequal policy."
I hope this is part of a legal trend. I've been very discouraged about gay rights lately, and this cheered me up a bit.
One of the most frustrating cases on the gay rights docket has reached a happy conclusion after several years of court losses. Matthew Limon, now 23, will not have to spend 17 years behind bars for a consensual sexual episode that took place a week after his 18th birthday with another male teenager.
On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state's sentencing laws unconstitutionally subject same-sex teens' sexual encounters to far harsher punishment than heterosexual teen trysts.
The court used the lowest standard of judicial review, giving the state of Kansas every opportunity to come up with a reasonable explanation for the vast discrepancy between its treatment of gay and straight teens. But the state attorneys failed the test.
Limon's case has always appeared to be, in the words of ACLU Gay and Lesbian Rights Project director Matt Coles, "a no-brainer." The Kansas "Romeo and Juliet" law, as it's nicknamed, protects youthful sex offenders from being charged under adult sodomy statutes when they are involved in consensual sex with other teenagers around their own age. A section of the statute specifies, however, that it only applies to opposite-sex couples. As such, Matthew Limon was charged not under Romeo and Juliet, but under criminal sodomy laws.
Due to a couple of similar infractions in Limon's past, the young man was sentenced to 206 months in prison, a term of over 17 years. Under Romeo and Juliet, a first offender would get probation, while a third offender like Limon would be sentenced to just over a year. Limon appealed the sentence to the Kansas Court of Appeals, but lost in early 2002. He then asked the Kansas Supreme Court to take the case, but the justices declined.
In early 2003, the ACLU petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the matter. A long silence ensued. Then in late June, a day or so after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, the high court sent Limon's case back to the Kansas appellate court with instructions to take another look at the case in view of the Lawrence ruling.
Not only did the Lawrence ruling strike laws against consensual adult sodomy, it also overturned the 1986 anti-gay precedent of Bowers v. Hardwick, which the Kansas court had previously used to justify Limon's tough treatment.
The Kansas appellate court dutifully reviewed Limon's arguments again, but -- to the astonishment of gay rights supporters -- it returned with yet another ruling in favor of the state. The Lawrence decision, said the court, applied to adults, not minors. This time the Kansas Supreme Court agreed to review the matter.
In a 19-page ruling, the Kansas justices agreed that Lawrence v. Texas controls the case. Matthew Limon was treated far differently than a teenager caught in a heterosexual act, the court wrote, and the state of Kansas was not able to present a legitimate state interest to justify its unequal policy.
The court ordered the Romeo and Juliet statute revised, deleting the section that refers to the gender of the offenders. Further, the justices ordered the state to recharge Limon under Romeo and Juliet within 30 days, or "take other action." Presumably, the state will simply unlock the prison door.
"As of today, Matthew Limon has already served four years and five months longer than a heterosexual teenager would have received for the same act," said the ACLU's Lisa Brunner in a statement. "He has long since paid his debt to society, and we're thrilled that he will be going home to his family soon."
This is the part I think is most important: "In a 19-page ruling, the Kansas justices agreed that Lawrence v. Texas controls the case. Matthew Limon was treated far differently than a teenager caught in a heterosexual act, the court wrote, and the state of Kansas was not able to present a legitimate state interest to justify its unequal policy."
I hope this is part of a legal trend. I've been very discouraged about gay rights lately, and this cheered me up a bit.