The Ohio Supreme Court case, earlier this month, that held that the state's statutory rape law was unconstitutionally vague as applied to sexual conduct between two children, both of whom were younger than 13, when neither child uses force or impairs the other -- also violating the United States Constitution's Equal Protection Clause because only one child was charged with being delinquent in the case, while others in similar situations were not – appears now to be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Columbus Dispatch, this morning, reported Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt's belief that the court's ruling was overly broad and unfairly eroded prosecutors' ability to make judgment calls about a defendant's culpability in a criminal case.
The ruling suggests that all defendants accused of a particular fact pattern should be charged with the same crime even if their individual culpability might vary, Oswalt said… "It takes away a tool prosecutors can use to charge juveniles with sex offenses when it can't be proved that a defendant used force. The way state law is written, charging a juvenile with a crime is the only way prosecutors can enforce measures such as counseling to address the inappropriate behavior… past U.S. Supreme Court rulings protect a prosecutor's right to make similar judgment calls."
Howard Bashman's blog has further details.
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