Daze Reader

Kansas Supreme Court frees Matthew Limon

http://www.dazereader.com/24000899.htm Good news, albeit years too late, out of Kansas. Court rejects harsher penalties for gay teen sex.

The Supreme Court of Kansas struck down a state law Friday that penalized same-sex statutory rapes by 18-year-olds much more harshly than heterosexual cases, ruling that the law unconstitutionally discriminated against homosexuals.

In a 6-0 opinion, the court said its decision was required by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Lawrence vs. Texas, a landmark victory for gay rights that abolished all state laws criminalizing sodomy between consenting adults.

James Esseks, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union's Gay and Lesbian Rights Project, argued the case on behalf of Matthew Limon, who will be released after serving five years of a 17-year-sentence under the Kansas law. His sentence would have been at most 15 months if he had been convicted of a heterosexual act.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline said the state would probably not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, noting that, as a Republican state legislator, he had voted against the disputed provision.

 

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