On May 15, 7:01 pm, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Thu, 15 May 2008 16:03:50 -0500, Tim Daneliuk wrote:

As a root cause matter, the *real* problem here was ever letting the
government get involved in *any* kind of marriage. The only role
government should have in marriage is enforcement of contracts and
property rights - as it would in any other voluntary arrangement
between free citizens and to interdict in the interests of minor
children whose parents are not caring for them. That's it.

In short, so long as adults engage in voluntary, consensual behavior
that is not otherwise fraudulent, forceful, or threatening, they must
be treated as exactly equal before the law.

How about that? We agree on something :-).

But how about polygamy, or polyandry, or group marriage, or whatever. Yes

How on earth any man would want more than one woman telling him what to
do all the time is beyond me. It's like signing up to go to GTMO
I think.

they should also be legal. But how do you define child abuse in those
groups? If a girl willingly (albeit brainwashed) becomes a wife at an age
below that which the state considers informed consent, does the state have
the right to step in? I'm still scratching my head on that one.

I'm not. We choose an age of majority as a society. It is an average
that will be too high or low for some people. But we choose one as
a matter of rule of law. People engaged in sexual activity with partners
below that age are committing a crime, period. Having said that, I think
you have to have a scaled set of responses. How about 10 years
in jail for every year the minor was below majority age. Have sex
with a 12 year old, go to jail for 60 years. A 17 year old, 10 years.
Something like that. Or better still make it geometric:

Age Of Minor Jail Time

17 1 year
16 2 years
15 4 years
14 8 years
13 16 years

Or non linear:

Age Of Minor Jail Time

17 1 year
16 5 years
15 15 years
14 30 years
13 75 years

Something along these lines, with room in the first couple of
years for judicial latitude (a boy who just turned 18 who has
sexual contact with his girlfriend who won't be 18 until
next week shouldn't go to jail or be seen as a felon in
any sense).


You might ought to take a better look at some of today's 13 year olds,
and the way they act. But my biggest dislike goes for the guys who
molest toddlers, and there seems to be an ever-increasing number of
those. I don't know whether that's more getting caught, or the fact
that the percentage is increasing, but that news is always hard to
take.