Double Standards?

After hearing about Debra Lafave being freed from doing any jail time for having sex with a 14 year old boy, I wondered if a 23 year old man having sex with a 14 year old girl would've ended in the same way. I doubt it

Goodness knows Im not defending her...what she did was wrong...but she is still being punished. Albeit not as harsh as most would like.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/21/ch...ped/index.html

The REASON charges were dropped is beacuse the BOY didnt want to testify. Im sure if the roles were reversed and the GIRL didnt want to testify, the same thing would have had a good chance of happening.

She still has house arrest and probation. But IMNSHO, if the courts REALLY REALLY wanted to give her prison time, and needed the boys testimony to do so, Im pretty sure they could have figured that out. Child advocates help with these types of things all the time so the victim never has to set foot in the court room.

Someone either got lazy, or dropped the ball on this one.

The court system is filled with double standards. Look at the gentleman that's currently fighting for men's rights in unwanted pregnancy cases. His complaint is that men have no say in an unwanted pregnancy if a woman decides to keep the child. You think he's going to gain a victory on any level? HELL, no. Because family courts stick it to the man most of the time.

I don't trust the courts in general. Anyone that still believes most people are considered "innocent until proven guilty" has to be deluded or never had any court issues. Folks, you're branded guilty the moment something goes down in this country and you STAY guilty until proven INNOCENT. From murder all the way down to running a stop sign, you are DIRT unless you can:

1. Prove the truth (And good luck with that because courts don't care about the truth...they just want someone to blame for whatever happened AND your money)

2. Spend enough on a lawyer to exonerate your guilty ass. This mostly applies to celebrities and rich business people. You'll pay a ton of money if you get caught driving without insurance as a commoner BUT you'll get a minor fine and no jail time if you're caught with a whore and a bunch of coke and happen to play for the Dallas Cowboys. And if you've been caught with a whore and coke, you probably do since you can afford it.

So yes, I do believe double standards exist in the justice system but I think the justice system is totally screwed anyhow.

Edited to add: Oh yeah...and where were these hot chicks that wanted to sleep with 14-year-olds when *I* was 14?! Slackers!

[FussBudget]

Originally Posted by NewRomantic

Edited to add: Oh yeah...and where were these hot chicks that wanted to sleep with 14-year-olds when *I* was 14?! Slackers!

Which is the first thought that came to MY mind

[Midas]

Originally Posted by FussBudget

Which is the first thought that came to MY mind

Me too!

[Jessica]

Originally Posted by Midas

Me too!

Me three!

[Bobby]

I believe if it was a one-off, I suppose she could have got away with the double-standard more effectively. However, the woman had sex with him more than once and performed oral sex on him a multitude of times - whichever way you look at it, she was wanting it bipolar or not, lol.

Now I believe if a man did that to a 14 year old girl (not that I believe it is acceptable under any circumstances), he would get the book thrown at him and would be put on a sex offenders list for 'x' amount of years and a good chance he will be thrown in prison.

The difference is, if a boy has sex, there are no repercussions to the action because he can't get pregnant and therefore it is classed as pleasure. If a girl has sex, there is a big repercussion to the action because she can get pregnant and is classed as rape or whatever.

My point is not that I condone this situation whichever gender is affected. My point is that, in the interests of consistency, this woman should get a stiffer sentence (pardon the pun, lol).