California: De-Criminalize Adult Consensual Incest (ACI) and Legalize CIAO Marriage

California: De-Criminalize Adult Consensual Incest (ACI) and Legalize CIAO Marriage

Started
7 May 2017
Petition to
Xavier Becerra: Attorney General for the State of California
Signatures: 117Next goal: 200
Support now

Why this petition matters

Started by Richard Chu

California: De-criminalize ACI and legalize Consanguineous Marriage

Petition:
We the udersigned call upon California's Attorney General, Xavier Becerra to amend the Californian legal code on incest to allow relationships between close relatives who are consenting adults (i.e. CIAO ( Consensual adult incest oriented) people and legaliize consanguineous marriage.
(1) to provide: that in the State of Californina an offense occurs only where one of the participants (even if consenting) was under the age of 21;
(2) for those who have previously been convicted of incest when both participants were consenting and over 21 years of age to have any sentences received ended; for convictions to be removed from criminal records of any individuals previously convicted and for a compensation scheme to be established.
(3) to ensure that CIAO people have the same rights to legal marriage and the same benefits and protections for family that are derived from legal marriage as for all other US citizens.

​​Background.

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
According to the Declaration of Independence
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

According to the Bill of Rights
Amendment V (5): Rights in criminal cases
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

The Constitution of the State of California
Section 1: All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

Calfornia Penal Code Section 2601
Even Prisoners have the right to marry.
* (Note 1 )
***
In the Unites States of America only two states (New Jersey and Rhode Island do not criminalize and punish Adult Consensual Incest ( ACI) and all 50 states and 5 unicorporated populated territories ban CIAO (consanguineous) marriages.

Despite its ban in CIAO marriage and laws against ACI, the United States does not have the lowest rate of birth defects in the world. The country with the lowest rate of birth defects is France, which legalized adult consensual incest in 1810.(Note1. page 9 MARCH OF DIMES
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation White Plains, New York 2006
T H E H I D D E N T O L L O F D Y I N G A N D D I S A B L E D C H I L D R E N
(Note 2)
Of the eleven member states of the European Union where ACI is not illegal or not punished, four of them i.e. ( Belgium, 10th, Spain (7th) Italy (6th) France (1st) were in the top 10 countries in the world with the lowest rates of incidence of children born with birth defects.
Eight were in the top 30 ( Estonia 26th, Netherlands 21st, Portugal 20th Slovenia 15th, Belgium, 10th, Spain (7th) Italy (6th) France (1st))
Lithuania(43) Luxembourg (40th) Monaco (35th) Latvia (27th)
Birth defects prevalent per 1000 live births in EU states
The average BD rate for all 28 EU states was 48.28
(Italy, where incest is not punishable unless a public scandalisc caused) had a low rate of 43.2
In the 17 non-ACI friendly states (including Italy) the average was 48.44
In the 11 ACI friendly states ( if excluding Italy) the average was 48.02
In the 16 non-ACI friendly (i.e. if excluding Italy ) the average rate was 48.77
In the 12 ACI friendly ( if including Italy) the average rater was 47.62
If Italy is included as a non ACI friendly state, those states that punish ACI have a higher birth defect rate. (4.844%) compared to the 11 ACI friendly states, with only 4.802%.
If Italy is included as an ACI friendly state then gap in rates is even larger! i.e the birth defect rate is . 1/10th of a per cent lower in the states where ACI is legal!
So data from that one study, appears to suggest that legalizing ACI in the USA might also have the effect of lowering the birth defect rate in the USA!
"The California Birth Defects Monitoring Program (CBDMP) has been an active ascertainment, population based registry since 1982 when the California State Legislature authorized the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program (CBDMP) to collect data on birth defects, stillbirths, and miscarriages. " ( Note 3)

The National Birth Defects Prevention Network states that "The causes of about 70% of birth defects are unknown." (Note 4) :

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that "Birth defects affect one in every 33 babies (about 3% of all babies) born in the United States each year.
Birth defects are the leading cause of infant deaths, accounting for 20% of all infant deaths."
(Note 5)

"Researchers are not certain why some groups have higher or lower rates of birth defects. Possible explanations include the effects of poverty and racism, environmental exposures, diet, unequal access to healthcare, unequal treatment in the health care system, and genetic factors."
(Note 6)
I have written away to California find out what the latest birth defect rate there is.

This petition argues CIAO ( Consensual Incest Adult Oriented) US citizens in California are suffering discrimination and abuse from incestophobic government regulations and police and judicial institutions and that such discrimination is illegal. Criminalizing and jailing and or fining CIAO people because they are CIAO is a crime against humanity under international law. If CIAO people are jailed it is a breach of their human rights ( under the UNDHR rules) their national rights (THE US Constitution, the Bill of Rights) their civil rights, and thus their legal rights.
The human rights of CIAO people are being abused in all 50 US states and 5 unicorporated territories, where in all states and territories except New Jersey and Rhode Island CIAO people can be arrested and jailed,for adult consensual incest and in all states and terrritories CIAO people are banned from legally marrying and subjected to other forms of discrimination and abuse as a result of the incestophobic and human rights-denying state policies against them.
About 38 countries and two US states world-wide at present do not make ACI ( Adult Consensual Incest) a criminal offense and do not punish CIAO people with jail sentences or in any other way. Many of the ACI-tolerant states ( i.e. China, Russia, Japan, India, Brazil are have large populations and thus the share of the world population living in ACI friendly countries is over 53%.
At the present time, 11 of the 28 EU countries do not criminalize or persecute CIAO people. If Italy is included, (According to Wikipedia, Italy only arrests ACI oriented (CIAO) people if there is a public scandal) 12 of the 28 EU members are ACI or 'CIAO friendly' states.

 

Everywhere in the United States, CIAO people should be able to live in peace and safety without the fear of the invasion of their privacy, being arrested , being prosecuted or publicly humiliated by exposure in the press or other incestophobic persecution. Except for the two states ( NJ and RI) that do not make CIAO a crime, CIAO marriage is not permitted (breaching a fundamental human right of CIAO people) and in the other 48 states and 5 territories, CIAO people have to face the constant threats of state persecution and discrimination ( i.e. arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, emotional torture, (separation from loved ones, ) legal costs, loss of jobs and family, and losing rights that are lost if one is on the state sex offender registry.

What can be done to rectify this inequitable situation in the United States?


While changing the laws to legalize ACI and CIAO marriage is the obvious first step necessary to deal with incestophobic discrimination against CIAO people ( fear of CIAO people, it could be argued was greatly increased when laws against incest (including ACI ) were introduced, as previous social disapproval and dislike would have been reinforced and sanctioned by the amplification effect and power and influence of the legislative word and deed (prosecution and imprisonment of the accused.) and changing the laws would be a powerful symbolic gesture, indicating that the previous attidude to ACI was an error and inappropriate..considering that now every jurisdiction in the US, gay and lesbian couples have the legal right to engage in homosexual sex and the right to homosexual marriage. They are no longer subject to such discriminatory laws as in the past.

The Genetic Argument

In the modern world the genetic argument is the one most often used as the core argument to justify continuation of laws against ACI sexual relationships and marriage. But the genetic argument is no longer valid, and appears to be a form of eugenics in disguise, albeit one (mis) directed at one small segment of the population, the CIAO people, a group possibly responsible for less than 0.01% of all all children born with birth defects

If the genetic argument were valid we would still have laws advocated by eugenicists at the time of the rise of Fascism in Germany in the 1930s. In the US and post-war Germany eugenics and laws that permitted eugenics have long since been discredited.
While the exact number of children born with birth defects attributable to CIAO parents each year is unknown, it is probably less than one tenth of one per cent (0.01%) of the total number of children born with birth defects. The so-called 'normal' families who contribute the other 99.99% of children with birth defects, are not legally barred from sex or marriage anywhere in the US, even if they:
have existing physical and mental deficits at the time of marriage, are old or of an age likely to create a child with birth defects, smoke and drink and take drugs likely to cause birth defects, have a genetic condition or disease likely to cause birth defects; work in jobs and or live in an area that is chemically polluted or radioactively polluted, and likely to cause birth defects;

Despite about 39% of 'normals' who had a child with a birth defect having had a high probability of having a child with birth defects due to their own genetic defects, or drug addictions, or their age at giving birth (over 35 years of age at time of pregnancy) or them having had IVF or fertility treatments, or working with chemicals or radioactive elements--- these 39% are never jailed simply for the sexual relationship they are in being unwise, or unconventional. Their 'higher risk' of having a child with birth defect is not considered 'unacceptable' while the so-called 'higher risk' of ACI couples, (even if they are gay, over menopausal age, sterile, vasectomized, using contraception etc. etc.) makes them all criminals in the eyes of the law in 48 of the 50 states. This is a travesty and a crime against humanity, because CIAO people have done no harm to anyone. By definition, ACI sex is adult and consensual so if it was a crime it is a victim-less crime. A child of an ACI couple who has a birth defect might just as well be considered of 'unknown cause' as are 6 out of 10 cases in babies from 'non-CIAO parents.
That is right, as with everyone else, some birth defects in children of CIAO parents are likely to be caused by their parents 'recessive genes' as is the case with non-CIAO parents. But just as possible is the chance of them having birth defects due to other factors such as environmental pollution, and 'random genetic damage' of the kind that causes 'club foot.'
CIAO people are just two family members who prefer each other's company to anyone else's. That is how it is when two people are in love.

In only two of the fifty US states and five territories ACI relationships are not punished and consanguineous marriage is impossible in all of the. Thus so far the Federal government has neglected its a fiduciary responsibility and is in breach of its commitments to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights to ensure protection of CIAO people's rights to not be discriminated against in law, and to the right to marriage.
California must be the next state to act to rectify this unjust and inequitable situation for its CIAO people.
""Our law affords constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education. [...] These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." (Note 7)

It is absurd to imagine that if CIAO marriage is legalized that the rich will take advantage of the situation and hoard all the money for their families, and this will lead to the extreme concentration of wealth and power in fewer hands. The 'One Percent' have already hoarded all the money for themselves and taken control of the government via their banks and corporate lobbyists.
Likewise, it is absurd to imagine that if CIAO marriage were legalized the poor would immediately seize the opportunity to get rich by having large families comprised of many physically and or mentally handicapped idiot children especially planned in order to claim welfare benefits in an attempt to destroy the welfare state. Millions of new migrants and refugees have added to the existing giant welfare services bill. But most government money going create debt is corporate welfare, much of it going to support the military-industrial complex.i.e. the recent Tomahawk missile assault on Syria is said to have cost $60 million.

CIAO relationships are relatively rare, perhaps less common than LBGTIQ relationships. And close to 99.9 % of birth defect cases do not originate from CIAO people. 60-70% of birth defect cases are of unknown etiology, so that even where the parents may happen to be consanguineous, the actual cause of their child's birth defect may be unknown. For instance a club foot is not congenital, but caused by random damage to a gene. Thus random genetic damage could occur to a CIAO couple's embryo just as easily as to a non-CIAO couple's embryo

 

Recommendations
CIAO people are consenting adults who have an incestuous orientation, just as homosexuals have a gay orientation. US member states and territories should not interfere in a CIAO citizens' equal rights to freedom and equality nor to discriminate against a member of the CIAO minority group because of his or her sexual ACI orientation.

For the moment I am petitioning for three things
That the government of California takes immediate measures to amend the state's laws to end the unjust marriage and incest laws concerning adult consensual incest,
in order:
(1) to provide: that in the state of California an offense occurs only where one of the participants (even if consenting) was under the age of 21( on minimally , the age of consent);
(2) for those who have previously been convicted of incest when both participants were consenting and over 21 years of age to have any sentences received ended; for convictions to be removed from criminal records of any individuals previously convicted and for a compensation scheme to be established.
(3) to ensure that CIAO people have the same rights to legal marriage and the same benefits and protections for family that are derived from legal marriage as for all other US citizens.

In other words, that California which presently prosecutes CIAO people should legalize ACI as soon as possible, in accordance with the spirit of
the 'Bill of Rights :
the 'Right to marry and found a family' Everyone has the right to marry and the right to found a family shall be guaranteed.'

as per Article 2 and 16 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
(2) Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status
(16) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
and as per The Declaration of Independence
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

It is unconscionable that any person should be jailed and or prevented from marrying because of their ACI sexual orientation.
The United States Supreme Court has in at least 14 cases since 1888 ruled that marriage is a fundamental right. These cases are:[33]
Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190 (1888) Marriage is "the most important relation in life" and "the foundation of the family and society, without which there would be neither civilization nor progress."
Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) The right "to marry, establish a home and bring up children" is a central part of liberty protected by the Due Process Clause.
Skinner v. Oklahoma ex rel. Williamson, 316 U.S. 535 (1942) Marriage is "one of the basic civil rights of man" and "fundamental to the very existence and survival of the race."
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) "We deal with a right of privacy older than the Bill of Rights—older than our political parties, older than our school system. Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred. It is an association that promotes a way of life, not causes; a harmony in living, not political faiths; a bilateral loyalty, not commercial or social projects. Yet it is an association for as noble a purpose as any involved in our prior decisions."
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) "The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."
Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371 (1971) "[M]arriage involves interests of basic importance to our society" and is "a fundamental human relationship."
Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) "This Court has long recognized that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494 (1977) "[W]hen the government intrudes on choices concerning family living arrangements, this Court must examine carefully the importance of the governmental interests advanced and the extent to which they are served by the challenged regulation."
Carey v. Population Services International, 431 U.S. 678 (1977) "[I]t is clear that among the decisions that an individual may make without unjustified government interference are personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, and child rearing and education."
Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374 (1978) "[T]he right to marry is of fundamental importance for all individuals."
Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) "[T]he decision to marry is a fundamental right" and an "expression[ ] of emotional support and public commitment."
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) "Our law affords constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education. [...] These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."
M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102 (1996) "Choices about marriage, family life, and the upbringing of children are among associational rights this Court has ranked as 'of basic importance in our society,' rights sheltered by the Fourteenth Amendment against the State's unwarranted usurpation, disregard, or disrespect."
Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) "[O]ur laws and tradition afford constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, and education. ... Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do."

I hope you will regard my petition in the same spirit of open minded fairness and justice in which, as In the United States, made same-sex marriage legal in all states, Washington, D.C., as well as all U.S. territories except American Samoa, since June 26, 2015 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.


Notes.
Note 1 : https://prisonlaw.com///wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Handbook-Chapter-2.pdf
Note 2
http://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/global-report-on-birth-defects-the-hidden-toll-of-dying-and-disabled-children-full-report.pdf

Note 3: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CFH/DGDS/Pages/cbdmp/Birth-Defects-Prevention-Month.aspx
Note 4 : https://www.nbdpn.org/docs/CA_BDprofile_2012_2016DEC15.pdf
Note 5: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/data.html
Note 6 https://trackingcalifornia.org/birth-defects/who-is-vulnerable-to-birth-defects#_faq_2
Note 7: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)

Support now
Signatures: 117Next goal: 200
Support now
Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material.Download QR code

Decision makers

  • Xavier Becerra: Attorney General for the State of California