Saturday, June 17, 2006

More Ephebophilia non-Chic:

Ah, the good old days of old fashion, pre-1960s sexual morality coming back to haunt us:

Girls as young as 12 and boys aged 14 could be allowed to enter into common law marriages in Colorado following a controversial court ruling.

The decision by a state appeals court overturned a lower court's decision that a girl, now 18, was too young to marry at 15.

Although the three-judge panel stopped short of setting a minimum age for common law unions, it noted that Colorado recognises English common law, which states such marriages are legal for girls at 12 and boys at 14. Precedent dating back to the 19th century was cited in the case.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really? Is this true?

AJ

Jonathan Rowe said...

Yes. The common law age of consent was 10 years old. Statutory rape laws (age of consent laws) are a relatively novel historical invention.