Mother and son in New Mexico face jail time for incestuous relationship

[Losty]

I don't agree with it at all. I know there are laws but I never imagined jail time for consenting adulting. That is beyond unreasonable.


ETA: adulting?? Wtf Losty

[account_inactive]

I don't agree with it at all. I know there are laws but I never imagined jail time for consenting adulting. That is beyond unreasonable.

I certainly don't agree with jail time, but here's more info about the couple in question.

Pretty interesting.

[TheRealJoeFish]

I would argue that, even with the general principle that two consenting adults should normally be allowed to engage in whatever behavior they want, laws against same-household parent/child incest are important even if they extend beyond the child's age of majority. This is because a parent (or aunt/uncle, or teacher, or coach, but especially a parent) is in a relationship of extreme influence and control over the child from a young age, and could certainly use that influence to "groom" or otherwise entice the child to desire to engage in a sexual relationship, even if it doesn't actually start until 18.

This is the same sort of principle behind laws in many states that set certain general ages for sexual relationships but modify them for people in positions of influence over children.

There was a case in Ohio, recently, that highlighted this. In Ohio, as in many states, you can have sex with everyone over a certain age (I think 18) or with someone 14 to 18 as long as you're not more than 4 years older than that person (so, a 19-year-old could legally have sex with a 16-year-old, but a 22-year-old couldn't). As is often the case with these kinds of laws, the "or four years younger" part is removed with regard to people in positions of power over minors (family, teachers, coaches) and the minors they have that power over. So, a just-turned-21-year-old just hired as a teacher could have sex with an 17-and-a-half year old who's a freshman at the local community college, but not one who's a senior in the high school he works at.

The particular Ohio case was about a provision that said removed the "or four years younger" provision for police officers (a twenty-year-old police officer was arrested for statutory rape for having sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend). The Ohio appellate court (I think it was Supreme but it may have been intermediate) ruled that this was a civil rights violation and invalidated the law, essentially saying that "whereas teachers and coaches and parents exert a particular interest over children, which justifies the additional restrictions, police officers are not in the child-rearing business. They deal with the entire population, not only or even primarily with children."

Of course, the media reported this as "Ohio court says police can have sex with minors," prompting something of a firestorm. I'm convinced the case was rightly decided on legal principles, although reasonable minds can differ of course.

Edit to add: although I can understand (though not endorse) the imposition of criminal sanctions on the parent in an incest case like this (up to and including some jail time, but certainly not a decade or whatever), I don't think such penalties should be applied 1) to the child in a case like this, or 2) in cases of incest where there is clearly not an undue influence exerted. This gets murky with different-aged siblings. What I mean is, if two people who are related but did not grow up together and were not in a position of power over each other want to have sex, let them. The touchstone should be the potential for coercion/abuse of a power dynamic that comes with family life, not actual genetics.

[pablo628]

A guy I worked for in Indiana is married to his cousin. They have three kids. I don't know how closely they're related, but his wife's maiden name is the same as his mother's.

[Joods]

My view regarding incest is, I don't care about it as long as its between adults and they don't have kids.

'Cause yuk and ew is not an argument. It's a reaction. And we don't run society on those.

You are welcome to your opinion and I am welcome to mine. I guess some of us just posses more common sense than others in that regard. There is a reason why we humans are not attracted to our own kin. Are these two consenting adults? Sure. Doesn't make it right though. She's still of child bearing age. Suppose she accidentally gets pregnant? Then what? You are aware that people don't always use protection, right?

But that's not even the point. This woman gave birth to this kid. He came out of her. In who's actual fucking right mind thinks the two of them having sex with each other is normal by any means? It's not. You may not like my opinion, and you may not agree with it, but I'm okay with that. It's not about me or you. It's about the fact that in this country, incest is against the law and they broke the law. And yes, what they did with each other IS gross.

[Excited Penguin]

My view regarding incest is, I don't care about it as long as its between adults and they don't have kids.

'Cause yuk and ew is not an argument. It's a reaction. And we don't run society on those.

You are welcome to your opinion and I am welcome to mine. I guess some of us just posses more common sense than others in that regard. There is a reason why we humans are not attracted to our own kin. Are these two consenting adults? Sure. Doesn't make it right though. She's still of child bearing age. Suppose she accidentally gets pregnant? Then what? You are aware that people don't always use protection, right?

But that's not even the point. This woman gave birth to this kid. He came out of her. In who's actual fucking right mind thinks the two of them having sex with each other is normal by any means? It's not. You may not like my opinion, and you may not agree with it, but I'm okay with that. It's not about me or you. It's about the fact that in this country, incest is against the law and they broke the law. And yes, what they did with each other IS gross.

It's against the law is not an ethical argument, it's a legal one.

I don't think it's normal, nor do I think it should be punishable with prison.

I specifically said as long as they don't have kids. There are actually steps they can ( be made to) take to prevent that from happening.

Common sense? I don't know what that is. Is it irrationality?

[Joods]

If you don't know what common sense is, I can't help you.

[Edwardo Piet]

As long as it's consenting adults and they aren't hurting each other I don't see the problem.

Ethically I mean.

[Excited Penguin]

If you don't know what common sense is, I can't help you.

If you didn't see what I did there, I do believe you are right.

[Excited Penguin]

As long as consenting adults aren't hurting each other I don't see the problem.

"Power dynamics"

Basically rape. 'Cause everything is so rapey now with the PC culture.