Statutory Rape: Between Policy and Law, Essay Example

You are in agreeance with the ruling! Explain in detail why you are in agreeance with the ruling. 

I am in agreeance with the ruling because Matthew Koso did commit statutory rape and with the commuted sentencing since special circumstances applied. In the Nebraska prosecution of Matthew Koso, (State v. Koso, CR05-20), the efficacy of statutory rape laws is evident. The quite recent decision also reveals the variance in the age element of state statutory rape laws, and in regard to statutory codes for conjugal marriage relationships. Sentencing of 18 to 30 months in prison with no option for probation in the Nebraska decision is fairly stiff, yet not extraordinarily punitive given the extensive sentencing that such a case might resulted in if put to the scrutiny of ‘zero tolerance’ states such as California. Although Kansas law allowed for the marriage, rule application in the State of Nebraska underscores the seriousness by which statutory laws are constructed, and the absolute distinction between those codified laws and legislative policy. Nebraska did not consider tacit emancipation of Koso’s victim, as the opinion was definitive in the last instance articulating the irresponsibility exhibited within the historical acts of the two parties. From a policy perspective, universal interpretations of statutory rape are denoted as articles to protect ‘children’ – and in most cases that does not include minors with children. Jurisdictional differences aside, the scope of international legislative policy might factor into a related decision, as enforcement seen in the Nebraska case contradicts notions that legal status minors might be reconsidered ‘adult’ by the very existence of the party(s) progeny. However, the minor in this case did not have a child when the relationship first began. Laws must be consistent and so Matthew Koso needed to be held accountable for his crime of statutory rape. The commuted length of sentencing was appropriate given the circumstances surrounding the case, that the couple had married.  (Justia.com US Supreme Court Center)   

Please discuss the law of statutory rape.

Central to arguments over revision of statutory rape laws state by state in determination of the minimum age for consensual sex, is the validity of ‘consent’ as it is understood as reasoned adult consideration to act. Conversely, Wharton’s Rule offers policy constraints to the discussion in that where there is a substantive offense, where two people are involved, prosecution of the offense normally requires more than one person for the indictment to stick. (Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 785 (U.S. 1975)) If conspiracy to act requires those elements, then we can see how minors as a ‘class of protected persons’ do not share liability in intent to commission criminal acts, and whom in their very essence stand at the core of determination of who deserves state protection. 

Judicial decision pertaining to the guilt of parties in cases where there are two mentally competent adult parties acting in unison by intent toward commission of a crime, at common law there cannot be one guilty of that agreement without the guilt of the other. A pure example of this type of case is the crime of adultery; and especially those cases brought forth by enforcement of older statute on sodomy and other sexual misconduct allegations that are dismissed according to weight of evidence, and consensual agreement by defendants. Similarly, sexual misconduct between minors is virtually impossible to enforce as a criminal act. Parental responsibility does not factor into the equation if the minor is 14 years of age or over, but this depends upon the state. Statutory rape is distinct here, as a parallel crime. Conspiratorial or consensual agreement between an adult and minor child to participate in sexual acts constitutes violation of statutory rape, and rule elements to this law make it impossible for the party classified as a minor to have the requisite mens rea or mental competence to make that decision.  (Murray) 

Works Cited

Justia.com US Supreme Court Center. 2010. 10 August 2010 <http://supreme.justia.com/us/420/770/case.html>.

Murray, Melissa. Strange Bedfellows: Criminal Law, Family Law, and the Legal Construction of Intimate Life.