Editorial
Veto override a case of political panic

There was considerable discussion yesterday at the Legislature about how the so-called "age of consent" bill may not be perfect, but it is "what the public wants."

No kidding. Clearly, Gov. Ben Cayetano's veto of the measure was overturned not because the bill was perfect, but because it would be virtual political suicide not to force the measure into law.

And sadly, the measure will do little to satisfy "what the public wants" if by that you mean the sexual activity of teenagers. There is a clear consensus in the community that sexual activity by immature teenagers should be discouraged.

This bill won't do anything about that issue at all.Teen-agers as young as 14 can still have legal sex as long as their partner is also a teenager.

What this measure does is make it a crime of statutory rape for an adult to have consensual sex with someone younger than 16. That's no doubt a useful law to have on the books, but it takes aim at a problem far less common than so many other threats to children, including drugs, family violence and child abuse.

The new law requires a thorough study of the impact of raising the age of consent, as well as a review of the experience of other states. Let's hope that the study is done, and done correctly.

Then next year, the Legislature can revisit this issue and deal with it sensibly and logically, not in the heat of political panic.