KMUW: Kline Speaks on Limon Case (2003-07-25) (RealPlayer required)
The early part of the interview gives a very clear and concise summary of the case. In essence, Kline agrees with the ACLU that underage sex should not be punished differentially due to the gender of the offending parties, and that's what he's going to urge the state to do when the law is reconsidered (which, according to Lawrence vs Texas, it really must be). It will be interesting to see what the state actually does, since a whole complex of Kansas laws have just been removed from the books.
Regarding the actual case, as Kline notes, what is likely to happen on appeal -- absent the equal protection issue, which doesn't really seem to apply, despite his worries -- is that rather than rehear the case, since all are agreed that Limon did, in fact, commit the crime at issue, he will simply be resentenced to a length that is equal to the time served. It does depend somewhat on how the Kansas courts interpret the decision as affecting the law in question. The most likely outcome is that they will consider that they have been ordered to make the punishments for the crime congruent, and that more severe punishment for homosexual statutory rape is now illegal, thus reducing the maximum possible sentence to 15 months or thereabouts. (Note: by the time this case is heard in September or October, Limon will have served over two years.) The other, less likely, alternative is that the court will consider the law itself to have been removed from the books, and that absent any law to punish Limon under, the conviction and sentence itself must be purged. (This would, actually, be the more fair result, given the specifics of the case, but it's extremely unlikely.)
Posted by iain at July 28, 2003 04:42 PM
