WI DA Warns school districts that adhering to new sex ed law is a criminal act.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/90020507.html

Madison — A district attorney is telling Juneau County schools to abandon their sex education courses, saying a new curriculum law could lead to criminal charges against teachers for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Starting in the fall, the new law requires schools that have sex education programs to tell students how to use condoms and other contraceptives. Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth said such education encourages sex among children, which is illegal, and could lead to charges against teachers.

The new law "promotes the sexualization - and sexual assault - of our children," Southworth wrote in a March 24 letter to officials in five school districts. He urged the districts to suspend their sex education programs and transfer their curriculum on anatomy to a science course.

"Forcing our schools to instruct children on how to utilize contraceptives encourages our children to engage in sexual behavior, whether as a victim or an offender," he wrote. "It is akin to teaching children about alcohol use, then instructing them on how to make mixed alcoholic drinks."

BTW, this is Juneau County, a part of Wisconsin that has a history of housing right wing wackos ranging from the KKK, various other white supremacist flakes and the Posse Comitatus.

Every time I get depressed about living in Bachmann's district, my neighbors across the way remind me things can always get worse.

Either that or he's gunning for higher office and is pulling this stunt to endear himself with the fundies.

Chad Fradette in Green Bay did exactly that a few years back (only it involved a nativity scene at City Hall rather than fighting sex ed). Didn't work out to well for him.

Contributing to the Delinquincy of a Minor is a legal charge that can be leveled at any adult who supplies assistance, information, or materials to a minor with the knowledge that their aid will be used to allow the minor to engage in a criminal activity.

According to the article, Wisconsin law states that ALL sex with ANYONE under the age of 16 is a felony, and that teenagers caught having sex get added to the state sex offender registry.

Technically then, providing birth control and instructions on safe sex to 15 year olds, telling them how to safely commit an activity that is a crime in their state, IS illegal.

The fix is simple. Wisconsin needs to pass a Romeo and Juliet law to decriminalize consensual sex between teenagers. It's tragic that conservative states like Texas have these laws on the books, while more traditionally SANE states are still tossing teenagers in jail for doing the things that all teenagers do. I'm not knocking Wisconsin either...one of my daughters 16 year old friends just got popped for this, and we live in California. We don't have a Romeo and Juliet law either.

The fundies outside of Madison and Milwaukee would start throwing shit fits.

They started drafting a Romeo and Juliet carveout a number of years ago to completely decriminalize sex between teenagers if their ages are within three years of each other. By the time they were done haggling, we ended up with a legal change that simply reduced the charges to a misdemeanor.

I would like to see a public sex ed debate... with statistics demonstrating the harm caused by abstinence-only programs.

:banghead:

As a student, Scott Southworth was a plaintiff in a case challenging the University of Wisconsin's mandatory activity fee because he didn't like some of the groups which received funding from it.

The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He lost.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-1189.ZS.html