‘Creepy Dershowitz’ Trends And You Really Don’t Want To Know Why
Alan Dershowitz fired off a series of tweets on Monday defending an old column he wrote that suggested lowering the age of consent to 15.
Dershowitz argued in the 1997 Los Angeles Times piece that “puberty is apparently arriving earlier, particularly among some ethnic groups.” And, he said, “based on demographic criteria,” the age of consent should be lowered:
“It certainly should not be as high as 17 or 16. Reasonable people can disagree over whether it should be as low as 14. Fifteen would seem like an appropriate compromise.”
The comments resurfaced on Monday in a New Yorker profile. Despite the ensuing outcry, the Harvard law professor and frequent Fox News guest didn’t back down:
I stand by the constitutional (not moral) argument I offered in my controversial oped: if a 16 year old has the constitutional right to have an abortion without state or parental interference, how could she not have the constitutional right to engage in consensual sex? 1/ https://t.co/48Thb8Uaym
— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) July 29, 2019
I challenge my readers to distinguish the cases, as a matter of constitutional law. I did not suggest that it is moral to have sex with a 16 year old, but rather that the issue presents a constitutional conundrum worthy of discussion. 2/
— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) July 29, 2019
I also pointed out that, statutory rape laws are applied quite selectively and often against young teenagers. That’s why I also say there are Romeo and Juliet exceptions. Lets debate not name call. End/
— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) July 29, 2019
The tweets caused Dershowitz’s name to trend as well as a variation on it: #CreepyDershowitz:
Continue reading at: https://news.yahoo.com/alan-dershowitz-age-of-consent-090934749.html