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Originally Posted by Lebell
Not knowing the marriage laws of those states, I can't say conclusively, but if indeed a 13 year old can marry anyone of any age with parental consent, I would agree that there is a disparity across state lines...but when has this never been the case? Whether we like it or not, the people of that state have decided thus, as have the other states decided as they have. Is this the ideal situation? Obviously not, but I see no easy remedy.
Personally, I would add to any 'reluctance' the historical precident cited above, but in defense of my position, I will reiterate that modern child psychology strongly indicates that children are not ready to make such a life changing decision at that age (such a decision being beyond the simple, "let's lose my virginity") and that parents should still be responsible for such decisions. (That being said, parental permission is still apparently required by said state, giving at least one measure of safety, albiet small and possibly unreliable.)
I believe there are emancipation laws on the books in several states and IMO, this is enough. Even in cases where there is historical precedence, the (young) woman was expected to run a household as the adult wife, age not withstanding.
And perhaps it is my own bias, but I don't think I can ever see a 14 year old as being ready for this. Sixteen would be the youngest I can see as giving this responsibility to, but I admit that I am pulling that number out of the air as an internal compromise.
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I think all your points are fair enough and well taken.
I'd like to clarify, however, that in Missouri and Ohio, those aren't marriage statutes. 14 years of age is a legal and acceptable age for unmarried persons to have sex. So had the two people in question in this scenario, regardless of their marital status, simply lived in either of those two states or moved there, their behavior would not have made news, it wouldn't even had been wrong (according to the law).
That said, I can certainly respect someone who says, "hey the law is too low for my standards. 14 or even 16 is just too young, regardless of the law, it's wrong behavior for me and mine to engage in."
Also, you might be interested to know that emancipation won't necessarily absolve someone from AOC restrictions. Just like they don't absolve someone from drinking statutes. Even marriage doesn't protect against sexual constraint legislation.
For example, in Oregon, I interviewed a person who was awaiting trial for violating a statutory rape law. He was charged with raping a minor--his wife of 3 years! They had moved from a state that allowed minors to marry, but she was still underage when they moved to Oregon and, during the report of a burglary on their home, it came to the prosecutors attention that he was married to and sleeping with a minor, according to Oregon law. Tragically, in my opinion, his conviction resulted in a lifetime registration as a sex-offender, which you may or may not know right now, is publicly available in Oregon and sometimes posted on the internet by various police precincts.
Did you hear about the recent case in Idaho where the prosecutor is charging the
minor with a crime, too?
All these factors point out to me that our society is currently very conflicted about rights and protections of minors. We don't quite know what to do about sexuality in general, our media's portrayal of it in particular, and the messages our capitalist society bombards children with to stimulate consumption.
We don't really know and I think we are, as a social entity, very confused about it all. So my hope was that I wasn't coming across as: this is fine behavior, end of discussion; and at first I'm taken aback by a reply along the lines of: this is not fine behavior, end of discussion.
I think there's a discussion to be had. I think it's necessary and the time is very ripe or we may actually produce more harm for the minors in our society by not helping them make what our society believes are appropriate decisions in safe environments, without shutting their voices out of the process.