TRENTON – Sex offenders will now face tougher prison sentences thanks to a bill signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie Monday.
The Jessica Lunsford Act, named after a 13-year-old who was raped and murdered in 2005, means anyone who is convicted of abusing a child younger than 13 will go to prison for 25 years without parole. Full Article
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Oh goodie… one more step of taking the actual judging out of judges’ hands and putting it in those of the legislature.
The way I read this
http://legiscan.com/NJ/text/A892/2014
a 13 year old having sex with a 12 year old will spend a minimum of 15 (if not 25) years behind bars. There is no age qualification for “the actor”. And no gender, though ‘boy’ would be implied. Heaven help us all if this involves two 12-year olds.
Now, no sane person would condone a 12 year old engaging in sexual activity with anyone. And hope that sort of thing does not exist. But anyone who denies that this happens is living in a make believe world. Just sayin’…
The law will cause more problems.
Actually some countries have an age of consent of 12. I don’t know all the details as to which restrictions are in place if any for the other partner, but yes in some places in the world it is legal for a 12 year old to have sex. Age of consent in of itself is largely BS because every person develops at a slightly different rate both mentally and physically. Certain 12 year old girls can easily pass for 18 year olds and so could certain 12 year old boys. Revesely certain men and women in their 30s or 40s still look 12 or 13, and act that age too. None of this means anyone solely based on their age ought to be engaging in sexual activity with others.
If someone is physically capable of having sex and menatally understands the risks/consequences of such activity they should be able to consent. Now I am not saying that they should consent, only that they could do so. By the same token it is improper to criminalize consensual behavior or threaten to seek “justice” just because someone else views a situation differently.
Justice for Jessica Lunsford would be doing whatever possible to prevent the future rape and/or murder of others. It would be a completely failure on societies part to send someone to prison for abusing someone under 13 for 25 years. Why in the fricking world would we ever let an individual get that far? Our approach to dealing with horrible acts after they happen is not doing anything to insure less horrible acts are commited in the future.
Halaluya, redemption from “Bridgegate”.
It’s kind of hard to have any respect for a guy who shows up to a bill signing, in memory of his daughter, wearing jeans, a screen-printed t-shirt, and a dark pair of Oakley sunglasses.