Maybe it's just me, us Autistic folks don't always pick up on public issues quickly.
I gather State Rep Kerry Gauthier (D-MN) got arrested at a rest stop for having consensual sex with a 17-year-old boy. (The age of consent in Minnesota, as it turns out, is 16. Color me startled, but okay, Legislature's determination not mine.) The state's attorney later announced they weren't going to press charges because it was a consensual lawful sex act between two people legally qualified to consent. They made their Love Connection via a male-seeking-male ad on Craigslist, also entirely legal. So fine. Still flabbergasted by the 16-year-old thing, though.
Was thinking on the way home from the store, though....
For whatever reason, Gauthier didn't admit to police why he was in the rest stop. Contrary to popular public opinion, if you aren't violating the law, much of the vast wasteland that is one's life is actually not the business of the Police, so I'm actually fine with that. "It shouldn't bother you if you have nothing to hide." Having your privacy invaded should always bother you. It should bother you, if you have a private life. And contrary to #trapwire, you still do.
Here's the thing. State's Attorney subtracts 16 from 17 and comes up with "legal," taking maybe a minute if he did it longhand. State's Attorney adds up the acknowledged consent of both parties, and comes up with legal. The police would I assume be able to do the same math, since they'd know the same law. Why didn't they?
Of course, given the care with which the minor's name was concealed, I'm sure none of his friends and family know he was arrested and taken to the police station, which makes sense, since he didn't commit a crime.
Perhaps some will take offense at my questioning the actions of the Duluth Police and various "fair and balanced" Minnesota news media and (R-MN) political figures. But it shouldn't bother them if they have nothing to hide, right?
