State v. Limon
| State of Kansas v. Matthew R. Limon | |
|---|---|
| Court | P.3d 22 (2004) |
| Holding | |
| A state law allowing for lesser punishment for statutory rape convictions if the partners were of different sexes than if they were of the same sex was found unconstitutional under both the federal and Kansas state constitutions | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief judge | Kay McFarland |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Marla J. Luckert |
| Davis, Gernon took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
State v. Limon, 280 Kan. 275, 122
Background
In February 2000, a week after his eighteenth birthday, Kansas resident Matthew R. Limon engaged in a consensual act of oral sex with a 14-year-old boy. Both were residents of a home for the mentally disabled.
Limon's attorneys filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that K.S.A. § 21-3522 was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it discriminated on the basis of sex and sexual orientation. The motion was denied and Limon was convicted of criminal sodomy. He was sentenced to 17 years and two months in prison. Had the sexual encounter been between a male and female, the maximum sentence would have been 15 months. Limon was also required to register as a sex offender and to submit to five years of supervision upon release.[4]
Appeals
Limon appealed his case to the Kansas Court of Appeals, which affirmed his conviction citing Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), a United States Supreme Court case which upheld sodomy laws as constitutional.[5] His appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court was also denied and Limon appealed to the United States Supreme Court in 2002.[4]
On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in
See also
References
- ^ a b State v. Limon, 280 Kan. 275 (2005).
- Lawrence Journal World. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ K.S.A. § 21-3522 as passed by the Kansas Legislature reads "(a) Unlawful voluntary sexual relations is engaging in voluntary: (1) sexual intercourse; (2) sodomy; or (3) lewd fondling or touching with a child who is 14 years of age but less than 16 years of age and the offender is less than 19 years of age and less than four years of age older than the child and child and the offender are the only parties involved and are members of the opposite sex."
- ^ a b c "Limon v. Kansas - Case Background". American Civil Liberties Union. September 8, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
- ^ Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986).
- ^ Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003).
- 955 (2003).
- ^ Stout, David (June 27, 2003). "Justices Void Prison Term Given Gay Teenager in Kansasn". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ State v. Limon, 32 Kan. App. 2d 369 (2004).
- ^ Bauer, Laura (November 4, 2005). "Defendant in gay sex case released from jail". The Kansas City Star. p. B1.
Further reading
- Schvartzman, Shulamit H. (2004). "'Romeo and Romeo": An Examination of Limon v. Kansas in Light of Lawrence v. Texas". Seton Hall Law Review. Vol. 35. pp. 359–401. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. (See profile at ResearchGate.)
- "'Romeo & Juliet Law' Gives Gay Teen 16 Years More in Prison than Heterosexual Would Serve" (Press release). American Civil Liberties Union. September 28, 2001. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015.
External links
- Text of State v. Limon, 280 Kan. 275, 122 P.3d 22 (2005) is available from: CourtListener Google Scholar