FROM THE GALLERY
Protecting Kansas College Students
An amendment regarding curriculum oversight was signed by the governor. This amendment, proposed by Sen. Susan Wagle, places supervision and over-sight of the curriculum of any human sexuality class funded by taxpayer dollars to the Kansas Board of Regents. It remains to be seen whether they will actually fulfill that obligation. Citizens of Kansas need to hold the Board accountable by writing, e-mailing and calling the members, asking them to closely monitor subject material, videos, slide shows, pictures, etc., that possibly exploit children or contribute to sexual harassment. Kansas has a sterling reputation in education. It is the Board of Regent’s job to make sure that Kansas college students are not exposed to illegal or erroneous indoctrination. For a list of regents and their contact numbers, contact our state office, (913) 341-8219 or e-mail us.
Supreme Court ruling and its implications in Kansas
Kansas was one of the states affected by the Supreme Court’s decision concerning a Texas sodomy law. Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline says that the Court’s decision makes Kansas laws prohibiting same-sex sodomy unenforceable.
Limon v. Kansas, a sodomy case involving an 18-year-old man convicted of criminal sodomy of a 14-year-old male minor, has been remanded to the Court of Appeals of Kansas for further consideration in light of the Lawrence case in Texas. Limon, convicted under K.S.A. 21-35005(a)(2), which defines unlawful criminal “sodomy” as “sodomy with a child who is 14 or more years of age but less than 16 years of age,” was sentenced to 17 years in prison. According to legal experts, the Lawrence decision is not directly controlling, because it does not involve a minor. Kansas does have a “Romeo and Juliet” law that allows for consensual sexual acts between minors who are at least 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 (Emphasis Added). Under the Romeo and Juliet law, Limon should have received a sentence of 13-15 months. The courts will now have to decide whether the rationale offered by Justice O’Connor’s opinion that same-sex and opposite-sex statutory sodomy should be treated equally. CWA lobbied against the Romeo and Juliet law when it was proposed, arguing that it effectively lowered the age of consent. Now we see that it could have even more serious ramifications.
Sexual PredatorsThe Kansas City Star recently reported that a man who recently completed the sexual predator program in Kansas and was declared “cured” has been arrested again with three counts of forcible sodomy and one count of forcible rape, assault and kidnapping, one year after his release. There has been a call for a “review” of the sexual predator program. CWA of Kansas made a presentation this year to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee concerning the inconsistency of sentencing of sexual predators, the failure to “cure” these offenders, and their subsequent release to “community supervision.” CWA’s research shows that many of these predators who actually do register on the Sexual Predator Registry (Kansas Bureau of Investigation's web site) are often living within blocks of schools, swimming pools and other places that are attractive to children. We also found that the recidivism rate (the rate of re-offense) for sexual offenders is very high.
ACTION: Urge your representative and senator to promote stiffer sentencing for sexual predators.
If you would like a copy of our research, contact the state office or send us an e-mail. Suggested donation: $5