CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I | Michael M. vs. Superior Court, 450 US 464 (1981)

Michael M. vs. Superior Court, 

450 US 464 (1981)


FACTS

Section 261.5 of the California Penal Code prohibited sex with a female under the age of 18 but did not prohibit sex with males under the age of 18. A 17-year-old named Michael M. was charged under this law after he had sex with a woman under age 18. He argued that the complaint should be set aside because the statute excluded males from its coverage, which meant that it violated the Equal Protection Clause, but the state courts rejected this argument. Whether or not the policy violates the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution. (NO)


HELD The court held that The state has a significant interest in preventing teenage pregnancies, which are likely to result either in abortion or in children who become wards of the state. Teenage boys are not similarly situated to teenage girls because they are not capable of becoming pregnant. Females also are more likely than males to suffer psychological and emotional consequences from teenage sex. The state should receive great deference regarding this issue, and the connection of the law to its objective is rational. Intermediate scrutiny is appropriate for a classification based on gender. The state could achieve the same objectives through a law that does not distinguish between male and female teenagers. This would even serve the objectives more successfully by imposing criminal penalties for teenage sex on both males and females. The current version of the law must be shown to be more effective than the gender-neutral version for it to be found constitutional.







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