In the Matter of B.W.

Summary

This document is a dissenting opinion in a Texas Supreme Court case concerning whether a thirteen-year-old may be adjudicated under the Juvenile Justice Code for prostitution. The dissent argues that the prostitution statute and Juvenile Justice Code authorize such a juvenile proceeding and that the majority improperly inferred a broader incapacity to consent from the statutory-rape provisions. It further maintains that rehabilitation, counseling, and probation were appropriate under the juvenile justice system.

Holdings

1. The dissent would hold that a thirteen-year-old may be subject to civil juvenile-delinquency proceedings and rehabilitative treatment for committing conduct that constitutes prostitution under the Penal Code.
2. The dissent would hold that the lack of a consent defense to statutory rape for a child under fourteen does not alter the separate prostitution statute or create an exemption from juvenile adjudication.
3. The dissent would hold that B.W.'s due process rights were not violated because she had no constitutional or statutory right to require prosecution of another person or to receive immunity absent compelled testimony.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a thirteen-year-old may be adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court for conduct constituting prostitution under the Texas Penal Code.
2. Whether the absence of a consent defense to statutory rape for children under fourteen renders a thirteen-year-old legally incapable of committing prostitution or bars juvenile adjudication for that conduct.
3. Whether the State violated B.W.'s due process rights by failing to prosecute her alleged adult boyfriend and by failing to offer her immunity in exchange for testimony against him.

Disposition

reversed