Saturday, May 25, 2013

Kaitlyn Hunt 101: Lessons in criminal law

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.