the child will grow up to be a happier person, whether he's top dog or not. Sex is here to stay. Sex is okay; there's nothing wrong with it, but along with that knowledge we must also help evolve a more loving society for people to live in," to paraphrase the good doctor a bit.
THE ROLE OF THE LAW
Mr. Richard S. Buckley, Deputy Public Defender, Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender, spoke on "Sex Values and the Law." Mr. Buckley said that he was in the "rather ridiculous position of having to agree with almost everything that Dr. Ziferstein said." This, he assured us, hardly ever happened between lawyers and psychiatrists.
Mr. Buckley explained that his office dealt with the more serious criminal and sexual offenses against society. He listed some as: Rape, statutory and forcible; Pimping; Pandering; Sec. #288, Felony Child Molesting; Sodomy; Sec. #288-A, Sexual Perversion; Incest; and Indecent Exposure. Mr. Buckley stated that he very seriously doubted that society has changed its attitude toward sex very much in the last 2,000 years. What has changed, and that only in the last few years, is the type of punishment meted out for the crime in question. Punishment is not as severe or arbitrary as it has been in the past and further, the concept of rehabilitation has entered into the picture.
Mr. Buckley stated that it was his personal opinion (not the opinion of his office) that the Law tended to lag somewhat behind Society. Mr. Buckley struck me as being a man very faithful to his office, but also a sensitive man who had given much thought to many of the thorny and controversial areas that arise among the Law, Law Enforcement, Society
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and the Needs of the Individual. He had read England's "Wolfenden Report," and reported its position to us for what it was worth, comparing the position it took on homosexuality with the law here.
He pointed out an interesting thing: "That the courts [in L.A.] have downgraded what 'enforcement' thought should be upgraded." He said that the homosexual act between two consenting adults used to be merely a misdemeanor, but that Law Enforcement felt it to be very serious and succeeded in getting the penalty upgraded to felony status. However, he noted that it doesn't usually work out that way in the courts (where only two adult homosexual persons are involved). The courts, he said, tend to give the lightest sentence possible in such
His position did not permit him to give his opinion on this state of affairs.
He continued to explain the Sec. #288 Felony Child molesting charge. This, he felt, was a very serious matter to all parents, and it presented many thorny problems to all concerned. It was a terrible thing for a man so accused only later to be proven innocent. The charge carries a 1 year to Life indeterminate sentence. It is determined by psychiatrists whether or not the offender is a "sexual psychopath" or not. If so determined, the offender is tenced and is usually released after one or two years and then generally put on probation. He mentioned the troublesome problems of dispensing justice in the case of "contributing to the delinquency of a minor," saying there are many borderline cases in this area.
Mr. Buckley brought up the matter of registration of sex offenders. On the one hand he felt that it was good to have these "M.O. Records," that it was an "enlightened ap-
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