First let me stipulate that forcing or luring children into any kind of sexual actions with adults is the most reprehensible of crimes. (And covering it up is equally vile. I’m talking to you, Catholic hierarchy.)
But really. Proportionality is also a value that is good to cultivate in the criminal justice system.
Earlier this week, it was reported that a Nevada woman was given life in prison for lewdness with a minor, ostensibly for forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch her boobs.
Maybe, as Doug Berman suggests, there is a lot more to this story. If not, I think Berman is right: this is a “remarkable test case for the reach and limits of the Eighth Amendment…”
Here are clips from the news article:
A Twin Falls woman convicted of forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch her breasts was sentenced Monday to life in prison.
Michelle Lyn Taylor, 34, was convicted of lewdness with a minor under 14 in November after a week-long trial in Elko County, Nev., District Judge Mike Memeo’s courtroom.
With the conviction, Taylor faced a mandatory life sentence, and Memeo set parole eligibility after 10 years, the minimum sentence. If released on parole she must register as a sex offender and will be under lifetime supervision.
The district attorney’s office did not offer a plea agreement in the case, said public defender Alina Kilpatrick, who argued the sentence is unconstitutional and doesn’t fit the crime.
“The jury was not allowed to know the potential sentence in this case and the Legislature doesn’t know the facts,” she said, alluding to the minimum sentence set by the Legislature in Nevada Revised Statute.
Kilpatrick said despite the parole eligibility after 10 years, there should be no mistake that it’s a life sentence for Taylor.
“She is getting a greater penalty for having a boy touch her breast than if she killed him,” she said.
Holy Shit! Life in Prison? As I recall, back when I was a 13 year old boy, this woman should have been given a medal for providing some reality to every 13 year old boys fantasy.
A perfect example of this can be seen in the Fellini movie “Amarcord” (one of my all time favorites), when the big breasted woman shows them off to the 13 year boy and sends him into a fever that lasts a week.
I say hang the judge who sentenced this fine woman.
Is it common that the jury wasn’t allowed to know the likely maximum sentence for this crime? Surely it would have affected their decision. Yes this was bizarre and very, very wrong, requiring psychiatric treatment for the woman but maybe some 6 months in jail if it’s an only offense – what context was it in, we don’t know. They have so much room in their prisons, and at a huge cost to citizens, while commenters on this blog and elsewhere like the PPL, go on and on about how REAL criminals are being released in Cal. for lack of space. Are the jails in NV that empty? If so, make a deal with CA. Or is this the power of their Prison Guard union’s “make-work” projects?
Let’s change this to a 34 year old man forcing a 13 year old girl to touch his penis, what penalty would people want for the guy? Taylor forced the kid to kiss her and touch her breasts while they were “roughhousing” and says she was intoxicated. Yeah, right.
I don’t know if she deserves life but there sure is adouble standard here. She’s a big girl, wonder how big the boy was and much force was used?
On the other hand, at 13 I would have been telling all my buddies and not anyone else.
The penalty should be higher because of the way that she looks.
How about a little delete here Celeste? I mean if I’m going to get deleted on a harmless remark thrown at Reg #4 maybe should be gone from here.
Sure Fire, I thought I deleted that comment. In any case, it’s gone now.
I don’t know what you got deleted for on the Treme thread. When there’s so much crap sometimes the harmless ones get deleted by mistake.
No problem, thanks.
1.don quixote Says:
April 16th, 2010 at 8:57 am
As I recall, back when I was a 13 year old boy, this woman should have been given a medal for providing some reality to every 13 year old boys fantasy.
3.Sure Fire Says:
April 16th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
On the other hand, at 13 I would have been telling all my buddies and not anyone else.
I hear what you guy’s are saying but did either of you look at that photo? I admit at my age, yeah I bang her after a 12er, but at 13? Well it’s kinda like that saying, fat chicks are like Vespas…they’re fun to ride until your friends see you on one. I’ll have to agree with Woody on this one.
Well played Pops.