Haha, no cavemen have PMd me, but if any took offense I would of course change my signature ASAP.

I agree, it's an interesting question, and there's research going on in all different fields about sentencing. To me, another part of it comes down to the old general/common law debate (law as written vs law as unwritten, and judges' ability to "freelance," so to speak). If you give a judge more freedom in sentencing, they can be unfair in sentencing, but if you have these guidelines, they can keep judges from devising sentences that are, well, more "just."

I'm only a 1L, so I don't know if there's some middle ground, but it's a worthy debate.

not always. a lot of senior and junior guys will date freshman or sophomore girls. it's pretty commonplace.

this is stupid...there is no justice in america, i'm not too sure about the rest of the world either. (i don't know b/c I haven't been, but I'd be willing to bet not)

justice is a concept like perfection.....it is unatainable

the young man did nothing wrong

and if the original title of thread offended you, then good...you probably deserve it

Well, I was referring more to having sex and videotaping gangbangs. Dating, not so much.

So you would be fine if your son did what that guy did on videotape?

well considering that a lot people lose their virginity before they can drive, i'd venture to say that sex at a young age is pretty commonplace.

In some places i'm sure thats perfectly true.

Is marijuana legal in GA?

That makes no sense, but then again neither do most of your posts.

I believe there's really no middle ground, unfortunately. But I'm glad you're wrestling these types of debates as a 1L. :)

I'm no longer sure what the norm is regarding these types of things.

Hearing about teen sex parties across social class and race makes me think that maybe highly religious communities with high levels of social control, like the Quakers, are the only COMMUNITIES immune from this.

The prosecutor had a choice on whether or not to charge the teen with a crime. He also stated in the article that the young man should have taken the plea and served 5 years. So I don't buy my hands were tied. Also the law has been changed but can not be made retroactive for this young man's case. I also think another issue that rises in regards to race is that their has been and still continues to be huge disparities in sentencing terms for whites and blacks convicted of the same crime.

The law doesn't surprise me, I think there was a thread on here at one point about the obsurd laws in particular states. For instance, if I'm not mistaken in Alabama it's still illegal for balck and whites to marry. It may not be enforceable, but it's still on the books.

The fact that they still enforce some of the blue laws in CT (no liquor sold on Sundays in stores, liquor stores close at 9 pm when they are open) is another (yet much less more serious example) that laws are way behind the times in some areas.

This pisses me off -- prosecutors almost always have discretion. Five years isn't an appropriate offer in this situation -- if I were the kid's attorney, I would not have encouraged him to take such a shitty offer. That's not an offer -- it's a prosecutor being a butt (nothing new).

A lot of people blame this guy for not taking the plea bargain of being classified a child molestor.

These people say that Wilson(?) could've had a say in the hand he was dealt but chose not to do so. In other words, not being able to live with his little sister pales in comparison to going to prison so he should've taken that.