It’s the Law

Re “A Lone Holdout Doesn’t Stand a Chance on a Jury,” Commentary, Feb. 15: The issue of pressure placed on jurors to reach a verdict aside, I was amazed by Rebecca LaVally’s naivete. A man of 31 and a girl of 15 do not meet on equal footing. At 15, the girl is still a child, vulnerable and lacking the maturity to protect her own interests. A law making it a crime for a person more than 10 years older to touch a child “with the intent of arousing passion” exists for obvious reasons: to prevent adult predators from taking sexual advantage of kids.

LaVally should stop regretting that she didn’t “hold out” and refuse to follow the law. Against her own better judgment, she did the right thing.

Helen Driscoll

Los Angeles