Queer Teens and Legislative Bullies: The Cruel and Invidious Discrimination Behind Heterosexist Statutory Rape Laws

Higdon, Michael J.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1097097

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…immunity to statutory rape prosecution for "perpetrators" close in age to "victims." Note, however, that three states explicitly exclude homosexual activity from this immunity, Higdon, 2008. When Romeo and Juliet exceptions are not available, however, deciding whether juvenile sex offenders in these cases should be registered is a more ambiguous punishment context, compared to more straightforward punishment decisions regarding adult sex offenders.…”

Section: Ambiguous Punishment Context: Juvenile Sex Offender Registramentioning

confidence: 99%

Give the kid a break—but only if he’s straight: Retributive motives drive biases against gay youth in ambiguous punishment contexts.

Salerno

Murphy

Bottoms

2014

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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Two studies addressed how people punish juvenile sex offenders in ambiguous punishment contexts. Sex offender registry laws now make voluntary sexual activity between juveniles a registration-worthy offense in the U.S. Using contemporary prejudice theories as a theoretical framework, we tested whether the ambiguity surrounding the application of these laws to juveniles provides a context for expression of prejudice against gay youth. In the ambiguous context of 2 juveniles having consensual sex, people supported sex offender registration more for gay, versus heterosexual, offenders. This punishment discrimination did not emerge, however, in the societally less ambiguous context of an adult having sex with a juvenile. Study 2 revealed that punishment discrimination again emerged against gay male juveniles but not lesbian juveniles. Across both studies, punishment discrimination against gay juveniles was consistently mediated by retributive motives (moral outrage), but less consistently by utilitarian motives (concern about protecting society)-the stated legislative purpose of registration.

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Section: Ambiguous Punishment Context: Juvenile Sex Offender Registramentioning

confidence: 99%

Give the kid a break—but only if he’s straight: Retributive motives drive biases against gay youth in ambiguous punishment contexts.

Salerno

Murphy

Bottoms

2014

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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“…In some states, harsher treatment is codified in statute. For example, Higdon (2008) noted that the Romeo and Juliet age-gap clauses of Texas and Alabama specify that the offender and victim must be of the opposite sex, whereas California's exclusionary clause pertains solely to vaginal intercourse. Consequently, relative to youth engaged in opposite-sex behavior, close-in-age youth engaged in same-sex behavior in these states conceivably may face more serious consequences.…”

Section: Influence Of Extrajudicial Factors On Criminal Case Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has become the case for sex crimes in general, including statutory rape. In addition to arrest, prosecution, and punitive sanctions, a statutory rape conviction or delinquent adjudication may trigger lifetime sex offender registration and notification requirements (ABA, 2000b;Higdon, 2008;Pittman & Nguyen, 2011). Sex offender registration can create cascading consequences for individuals and families, including residency restrictions, eviction, ostracism, vigilantism, and loss of normal access to employment, housing, health care or educational opportunities (Tewksbury & Levenson, 2009).…”

Section: Influence Of Extrajudicial Factors On Criminal Case Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Same-Sex and Race-Based Disparities in Statutory Rape Arrests

Chaffin

Chenoweth

Letourneau

2014

J Interpers Violence

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This study tests a liberation hypothesis for statutory rape incidents, specifically that there may be same-sex and race/ethnicity arrest disparities among statutory rape incidents and that these will be greater among statutory rape than among forcible sex crime incidents. 26,726 reported incidents of statutory rape as defined under state statutes and 96,474 forcible sex crime incidents were extracted from National Incident-Based Reporting System data sets. Arrest outcomes were tested using multilevel modeling. Same-sex statutory rape pairings were rare but had much higher arrest odds. A victim-offender romantic relationship amplified arrest odds for same-sex pairings, but damped arrest odds for male-on-female pairings. Same-sex disparities were larger among statutory than among forcible incidents. Female-on-male incidents had uniformly lower arrest odds. Race/ethnicity effects were smaller than gender effects and more complexly patterned. The findings support the liberation hypothesis for same-sex statutory rape arrest disparities, particularly among same-sex romantic pairings. Support for race/ethnicity-based arrest disparities was limited and mixed.

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“…There are wide discrepancies in the age of consent, statutory criminal charges, and associated punishments across states based on the younger partner's age, the older partner's age, the age difference between two partners, and the type of sexual behavior perpetrated (Glosser et al, 2004). Discrepancies in charges, punishments, and legal defenses for statutory rape also exist within some states, based on partner age differences, the type of sexual activity committed, and whether partners are the same or opposite sex (Glosser et al, 2004;Higdon, 2008). Thus, there is good reason to believe that many teens and young adults do not understand statutory rape laws, even if they are aware that laws exist.…”

Section: Limitations and Considerations For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It Love or Sexual Abuse? Young Adults' Perceptions of Statutory Rape

Oudekerk

Farr

Reppucci

2013

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse

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Adults under age 25 comprise the majority of statutory rape perpetrators, yet we know little about their perceptions of statutory relationships. We assessed 210 (50% male) young adults' perceptions of statutory rape involving a 15-year-old female adolescent and a male who was either 2, 4, or 6 years older. Across all age gaps, 73.7% of participants felt the relationship should not be a crime. Participants who read about a 4- or 6-year (versus 2-year) age gap perceived the relationship as significantly more of a crime and the older partner as more responsible and in need of legal intervention. Effects were partially mediated by perceptions of the relationship as exploitive. Results suggest a need to educate young adults about statutory rape.

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Queer Teens and Legislative Bullies: The Cruel and Invidious Discrimination Behind Heterosexist Statutory Rape Laws

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Give the kid a break—but only if he’s straight: Retributive motives drive biases against gay youth in ambiguous punishment contexts.

Give the kid a break—but only if he’s straight: Retributive motives drive biases against gay youth in ambiguous punishment contexts.

Same-Sex and Race-Based Disparities in Statutory Rape Arrests

Is It Love or Sexual Abuse? Young Adults' Perceptions of Statutory Rape

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