On Thursday, October 20, 2005, at 06:24 AM, Frantisek wrote:
So, what happens in the US when to people under 18 have intercourse? Nobody gets charged with breaking the law, or both?
Depends on whether the boy is a football star or not. An ordinary joe gets charged with statutory rape. A football star gets suspended from a few games. (Based on actual cases here.)
The idiocy is that a girl can get married here if she is 15 or older and her parents consent, but if she has sex outside of marriage she is breaking the law. But the girls are never charged, just the guys.
This whole area is an area where the laws are completely out of touch with reality.
I knew one girl of 15 who had sued her parents for "divorce" and won, and was a "legally emancipated minor". She was in such a legal limbo that no one had a clue about what her rights were or weren't.
From a photographer's perspective, all of this matters because a person has to be 18 to sign a model release. If you photograph someone under 18 you have to have parental (or guardian) consent, and in many places the parent or guardian must be present during the photo shoot. In some localities it is even crazier, such as requiring that a licensed social worker must be present during the shoot. I've had a rule for years because of this insanity that I simply never photograph anyone under 18 under any circumstances.
Bob
