3 ms·

> If Minsky could show up to court for his crimes and he said "Your honor, I didn't know she was 15", he would still go to jail. The way you worded this makes

> If Minsky could show up to court for his crimes and he said "Your honor, I didn't know she was 15", he would still go to jail. The way you worded this makes the argument much clearer, it's helpful. This is one of the few comments that add value in this thread. Thanks.

choeger 7y ago
Whereas 15 is a more extreme example, the law is absurd if that is also the case for 17 and a half vs. 18. Obviously there is no way to know the difference, so is the actual intention of the law to simply prevent people under 30 from having intercourse? Disclaimer: I am definitely not defending the whole sex dealership thing, I am just wondering about what a 19 or 20 year old college student is supposed to do to behave legally. Edit: as a comparison, in Germany the age of consent is 14 afaik and there exist several additional laws to protect, e.g. 15 year olds from older people that have some kind of power over them (e.g., teachers).
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- dorfsmay 7y ago
  As the parent poster pointed out, the ethical ground of the law, or how the case would be treated abroad would have no baring in court. Regardless, I think Stallmam's mistake was to try to start a debate about Minsky's guilt and about statutory rape in the wrong place: a mailing list about Computer Science which includes both staff and students, especially given that he is not a random person, he is an authority figure when it comes to CS and at MIT. The debates might be valid but the place, and time (given everything going on about the connections between Epstein and the MIT) are what is wrong here.
  - virgilp 7y ago
    > The debates might be valid but the place, and time (given everything going on about the connections between Epstein and the MIT) are what is wrong here. Yes. And it's such a Stallman thing to do, to have a valid debate regardless of circumstances (whether it was the time or the place to do it). He takes his principles to unheard-of extremes.... but at least, he is a principled man. I wish we had more people like him, TBH. It's one of the persons I don't always agree with, but I always found it very easy to respect his position.

choeger 7y ago

Whereas 15 is a more extreme example, the law is absurd if that is also the case for 17 and a half vs. 18. Obviously there is no way to know the difference, so is the actual intention of the law to simply prevent people under 30 from having intercourse? Disclaimer: I am definitely not defending the whole sex dealership thing, I am just wondering about what a 19 or 20 year old college student is supposed to do to behave legally. Edit: as a comparison, in Germany the age of consent is 14 afaik and there exist several additional laws to protect, e.g. 15 year olds from older people that have some kind of power over them (e.g., teachers).

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dorfsmay 7y ago
As the parent poster pointed out, the ethical ground of the law, or how the case would be treated abroad would have no baring in court. Regardless, I think Stallmam's mistake was to try to start a debate about Minsky's guilt and about statutory rape in the wrong place: a mailing list about Computer Science which includes both staff and students, especially given that he is not a random person, he is an authority figure when it comes to CS and at MIT. The debates might be valid but the place, and time (given everything going on about the connections between Epstein and the MIT) are what is wrong here.
- virgilp 7y ago
  > The debates might be valid but the place, and time (given everything going on about the connections between Epstein and the MIT) are what is wrong here. Yes. And it's such a Stallman thing to do, to have a valid debate regardless of circumstances (whether it was the time or the place to do it). He takes his principles to unheard-of extremes.... but at least, he is a principled man. I wish we had more people like him, TBH. It's one of the persons I don't always agree with, but I always found it very easy to respect his position.