Published on: Sunday, May 16, 2021
In 1994 (pre-Lawrence v. Texas), an 18-year-old male is convicted of having consensual sex with a 16-year-old male under Idaho's "Crimes Against Nature" statute. He would not have committed that crime had the 16-year-old been a female. He serves seven years in prison and years later, at age 45, he moves to Montana, where because of his conviction must register as a sex offender. Montana federal district court: That is unconstitutional in all the ways, including under rational basis scrutiny on his equal protection claim.
The case is Randall Menges v. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, CV-20-178 (D. Mt. May 11, 2021).