Brody's Scribbles... Wisconsin District Attorney To Sex-Ed Instructors: You Teach It & I'll Arrest You

By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) Apr 8 | That headline sounds absurd doesn't it? Yeah, that's what I thought when I saw a variation of it headlining a news article I read. Sadly though, its true. Juneau County Wisconsin District Attorney Scott Southworth, wrote that threat in a letter to the School Board members and Schools Superintendents at the five school districts in his county on March 24th, according to New Lisbon School District Superintendent Tom Andres, who released a copy of it today to Reuters and other news services.

In his letter, Southworth told school district leaders the new law promotes sexual assault of children, and warns that teachers who follow the law could be charged with misdemeanor or felony delinquency of a minor, with maximum punishments ranging from nine months in jail to six years in prison.

 "For example, if a teacher instructs any student aged 16 or younger how to utilize contraceptives under circumstances where the teacher knows the child is engaging in sexual activity with another child -- or even where the 'natural and probable consequences' of the teacher's instruction is to cause that child to engage in sexual intercourse with a child -- that teacher can be charged under this statue," Southworth wrote.

Now, here's the thing, Southworth, who identifies himself as a good Evangelical Christian and Republican is dead serious. Here's the link to the entire letter; [JCDA Memo] Of course given his political mindset you just know that this was coming... Southworth's letter also said the new law requires schools to condone controversial sexual behavior because they must teach students about gender stereotypes. He said that would likely mean teaching about homosexuality and transgender and transsexual people.

"In effect, the new law injects an intense amount of unnecessary politics into our human growth and development classrooms, and places our teachers and children into a position of discussing extremely controversial issues that will likely conflict with the religious beliefs and values of most Juneau County families," he wrote.

Ah, now we can't have that now can we? Andres told Reuters:

"His teachers are already walking a tightrope in sex-education classes, being careful that the information they present is age-appropriate and respectful of various religious and family views. But, he added, the schools also must fulfill their responsibility to students."

But probably the best take on this came in an Op-Ed by Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published today:

Madison -- A district attorney’s warning that teachers could be criminally charged for following a new state sex education curriculum has unleashed a torrent of criticism — as well as some support.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who in February signed the new curriculum into law, this week called Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth’s position ridiculous.

"I’ve heard some very bizarre legal arguments in my time, but as I understand this argument, it is, ‘If you follow state law, you will be prosecuted,’" Doyle told reporters Wednesday. "I think people pretty clearly understand that if you follow state law you’re not going to be prosecuted, no matter what the views of one particular district attorney are."

The new law -- opposed by all Republicans in the state Legislature -- requires schools that teach sex education to provide medically accurate, age appropriate information, including how to use birth control.

Southworth sent a memo March 24 to five school districts in his county that said telling students how to use condoms could lead to charges for contributing to the delinquency of a minor because it is illegal for children under 18 to have sex.

Wisconsin Right to Life praised Southworth in a news release Thursday because he "is not taking this (new law) lying down."

"The only way this outrageous law ever came to pass is because the Democratic leadership in Madison and the current governor are joined at the hip with the Planned Parenthoods of the world," said a statement from Susan Armacost, Wisconsin Right to Life’s legislative director.

Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception and abortions, lobbied for the sex education law, saying it would reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

Lester Pines, a Madison attorney active in Democratic politics, said Southworth’s legal position would suggest that Southworth believes parents could be prosecuted if they found out their children were sexually active and encouraged them to use birth control.

He predicted charges would be quickly tossed out by a judge if Southworth prosecuted teachers.

"Contributing to the delinquency of a minor is never meant to cover what Southworth is saying it will cover," Pines said.

He noted state law makes it illegal in many cases to give children explicit sexual descriptions, but includes an exemption for material that has educational, literary or scientific value for children.

Doyle said he thought the new law is important because teaching sex education is a challenge for parents.

"We all tell our kids that the best thing to do is to abstain altogether and I think we all wish we lived in a world where that was going to happen," he said. "But most of us understand we live in a world where maybe that might not happen sometimes and it’s probably a good thing to have students understand what the facts are about all this. Trying to keep 15, 16-year-olds in the dark probably isn’t going to work very well."