penni, from the world of news comes this important communique:
Teens have no constitutional right to sex
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Teenagers have no constitutional right to have sex -- even voluntarily and with each other, a California appeals court ruled Thursday.
The court upheld a lower juvenile court ruling that said the right to privacy does not cover consensual sexual activity between minors.
"There are freedoms which adults enjoy which are beyond those afforded minors," Justice Ignazio Ruvolo wrote in the court's unanimous opinion.
The case involved a 16-year-old boy in northern California's Alameda County who was arrested and charged with statutory rape for having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend.
The boy challenged the arrest on constitutional grounds, saying that sex was a fundamental right covered by privacy laws that apply to minors as well as adults.
His lawyers also argued that the statutory rape provision was intended to protect minors from adults, and not to hinder their relations with each other.
The court, in a 3-0, ruling, felt otherwise.
"While we do not ignore the reality that many California teenagers are sexually active, that fact alone does not establish that minors have a right to privacy to engage in sexual intercourse," the court ruled.
It said that precedents such as earlier court rulings that overturned a law requiring parental consent for abortions did not mean that minors were now free to behave as they liked in the sexual realm.
"While they may have the ability to respond to nature's call to exercise the gift of physical love, juveniles may yet be unable to accept the attendant obligations and responsibilities," the court said.
The court upheld the lower court's decision to put the boy on probation.
dailynews.yahoo.com |
