Whatever Happened to Limon?

Have you wondered this? Maybe not. Bundled with the landmark case Lawrence v. Texas was a similar case involving a Kansas youth by the name of Matt Limon. Limon, a high school senior just over 18, was having a gay relationship with a high school freshmen. The freshman's parents found out, and Limon was sentenced to a 17 year prison term despite the presence of a "Romeo and Juliet" law in Kansas applying to straight couples that severely reduced the penalty for statutory rape if the age difference between the partners was less than four years.

After Lawrence, the case was apparently remanded. This article tells us where it stands today:

Official justifies harsher penalties for gay sex
Says promoting traditional values is reason enough
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Posted: 10:14 AM EDT (1414 GMT)

TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- The state can punish illegal underage sex more harshly when it involves homosexual acts, even if the only goal is promoting traditional values, a state official told the Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a closely watched case, Deputy Attorney General Jared Maag said legislators have such broad latitude in setting policy that "any conceivable, rational basis" would justify the different treatment.

Maag argued in favor of upholding a sentence of more than 17 years in prison for Matthew R. Limon, convicted of criminal sodomy for having sex at age 18 with a 14-year-old boy in 2000.

Had the victim been a girl, Limon could have been sentenced to one year and three months in prison under a 1999 "Romeo and Juliet" law that gives shorter sentences to heterosexuals if the partners' ages are within four years and under 19.

His attorneys argued the different treatment represents discrimination against gays and lesbians and is unconstitutional.

But Maag said the different treatment is acceptable if legislators can argue there's a rational reason -- including promoting traditional values.

"If you admit there's a conceivable basis that's at least arguable, then that is enough to uphold the statute as constitutional," he said.

James Esseks, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing Limon, said the state has "fanciful justifications" for the harsher sentence.

Esseks said the state is basing its law on "private prejudice," which is constitutionally unacceptable.

The Kansas Court of Appeals rejected Limon's appeal in 2002. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law criminalizing gay sex and returned Limon's case to the state courts.

But in a 2-1 decision in January, the Kansas Court of Appeals noted that the U.S. Supreme Court case involved consenting adults and sided with the state again. Limon then appealed the state Supreme Court, which could rule as early as October 15.