Incest or not?

[The Sum of Awe]

Indeed, it is rather icky. However, to my understanding at least, it is not actual biological incest, and she is only his "step-daughter" because of his marriage contract with her mother.

At this stage, I don't feel there is sufficient justification for prosecution.

In any case, if it were truly his biological daughter, and you did find it icky, is that really a fair judgement of whether it is right or not?

 

[Reverend Rick]

You cannot legislate morality. That said, I wish Mom would have put a bullet right between his eyes and I was on her jury.

 

[Skwim]

In any case, if it were truly his biological daughter, and you did find it icky, is that really a fair judgement of whether it is right or not?

Just to point out, in the case of father daughter sex there is the problem of inbreeding wherein "children whose biological parents have a close genetic relationship have a greatly increased risk of congenital disorders, death and disability at least in part due to genetic diseases caused by the inbreeding."
Source: Wikipedia

And ickiness aside, I think this is justification enough to have laws against such incest.

 

[Skwim]

You cannot legislate morality.

Sure you can. It's because of just such a thing that Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas came about.

 

[Father Heathen]

Morality and legality aren't interchangeable. Incest aside, by cheating he deceived and betrayed the trust and commitment between himself and his spouse. That calls his integrity and character in question.
Cheating aside, while I think that what happens between consenting adults should be nobody's business but their own, incestual relationships are surely emotionally/psychologically unhealthy and highly dysfunctional. Even as adults, the nurture/dependency and authority figure/paternal role still comes into play, with it overtones of manipulation, exploitation, and leveraging of power. That of course also calls their integrity and character into question, as well as their mental health.

But no, I don't believe something as subjective and situational as morality can be legislated.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Lets raise the bar a bit higher here, what if the husband was 60?

 

[Father Heathen]

On the other hand, how does society or the legal system determine that such relationships are free of manipulation, coercion, exploitation, Stockholm syndrome, etc?

 

[Skwim]

On the other hand, how does society or the legal system determine that such relationships are free of manipulation, coercion, exploitation, Stockholm syndrome, etc?

They don't. "Consenting adult" implies that no manipulation, coercion, or exploitation, exists in the relationship. If there is then the "consenting" doesn't apply and other laws become applicable.

 

[Father Heathen]

They don't. "Consenting adult" implies that no manipulation, coercion, or exploitation, exists in the relationship. If there is then the "consenting" doesn't apply and other laws become applicable.

Yeah, no ****. My question was how does society and the legal system determine whether or not such relationships are genuinely consensual, give that it's a grey area given the circumstances.

 

[Skwim]

Yeah, no ****. My question was how does society and the legal system determine whether or not such relationships are genuinely consensual, give that it's a grey area given the circumstances.

Excuse me, I thought it would be obvious that society can't. But to be clear; because we seldom have access to the inner workings of each other's relationships, it's nigh impossible to "determine whether or not such relationships are genuinely consensual." Unlike freedom of speech and freedom of worship, we don't have freedom of snoop. Finding out about manipulation, coercion, or exploitation is almost always after-the-fact, and is not about to be made a preventative concern on the level your question suggests. Their likelihood simply doesn't rise to the level where invasion of privacy is a societal concern.

 

[Aquitaine]

In any case, if it were truly his biological daughter, and you did find it icky, is that really a fair judgement of whether it is right or not?

Genuine biological Incest can be very problematic, and from what I've heard, the relationships normally originated in Child/Sexual Abuse.

 

[ImprobableBeing]

The problem would be one of authority, this is common in many other situations too (teacher/student for example) and while it's not exactly incest i think it should remain illegal.

As someone who has been involved with a woman who had children i just think it's... disgusting.

 

[DallasApple]

The problem would be one of authority, this is common in many other situations too (teacher/student for example) and while it's not exactly incest i think it should remain illegal.

As someone who has been involved with a woman who had children i just think it's... disgusting.

There is a difference in something being disgusting to people and it being criminal.And you can say its not "exactly incest" but yet that is what they are being charged with .So what should they be charged with since its not "exactly" incest ?" Should they be charged with criminally disgusting?

 

[roger1440]

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Last week, Nicholas County authorities charged a Mount Nebo man and his stepdaughter with incest - even though the pair aren't related by blood, and are both above the legal age of consent.

County authorities cited the inclusive definition of "daughter" in state law.

Before charging the pair, Shafer researched state law regarding incest and consulted Nicholas County Prosecuting Attorney James "P.K." Milam, Hopkins said. They all agreed that Nicholas and Jarrett should be arrested because of the law's definition of a daughter.

According to state law, a daughter is the natural daughter of a person's husband or wife -- and Nicholas is still married to Jarrett's mother, Hopkins said. Jarrett was about 16 when her mother married Nicholas, he said.

"If you look real close at the code side, and Sgt. Shafer is a real stickler for the details," Hopkins said, "you can look and see it does include stepdaughters."

Deputies charged Nicholas and Jarrett each with seven counts of incest, which is a felony that calls for a penalty of between 5 and 15 years in prison."
source
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My thoughts,
Without doubt they broke the law; however, I believe it's a law that needs fixin' and not the two involved. If it's based on consanguinity then it fails right out of the gate. There is none. And if the law was conceived merely to reflect a social taboo, I would have to see a good argument to convince me of its necessity. Other than cannibalism, I can't think of any strictly social taboo that deserves to be made unlawful.

"One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all”."
— Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail