The
news is buzzing about 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt, who is being prosecuted in
Florida
for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old female. Many people are focusing on the same-sex
nature of the teens' relationship; however, from a news standpoint, this
completely misses the point. The
point is—or at least should be—that this type of prosecution is extremely
common throughout our country, and the consequences are devastating. In fact,
if this
CNN report is accurate, even the worst-case scenario for Kaitlyn Hunt
is far better than what other young defendants are facing. The situation is so bad that I recently published an
entire book on our country’s
overreaching, hyper-aggressive, and overly-punitive criminal justice system. However, the Kaitlyn Hunt story will reach far more readers than my book ever will—so let’s take a closer look for some important lessons in criminal law.
