Teenage Sex and Mandatory Minimums

There must be something in the water in Georgia. Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court wrestled with how mandatory minimum sentencing laws treat teenagers who are caught engaging in consensual sex.

In the case before the court, Marcus Dwayne Dixon, a black 18-year-old high school football player, was accused and acquitted of raping a white 15-year-old female classmate.

But Dixon was convicted of misdemeanor statutory rape and aggravated child molestation, one of the so-called “seven deadly sins” for which Georgia law requires at least a 10-year prison term.

A star athlete with a 3.96 grade-point average, Dixon had accepted a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University. He now sits in a Georgia prison cell.

Teenagers and sex – another controversial topic. And one of importance for the adoption and child welfare community. What if the girl became pregnant and placed the baby for adoption. Should this father have parental rights? Should he be listed on the state’s sex offender registry? Is his conviction a legitimate “aggravating circumstance” leading to a limitation of his parental rights now and in the future?

Read all about this case at Law.com

For further background click here.

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