#CreepyDershowitz: Trump defender Alan Dershowitz pilloried for wanting age of consent lowered to 16

Responding to a tweet with a screen capture of Dershowitz’s 1997 article, the lawyer and professor emeritus of Harvard Law School said, “I stand by the constitutional (not moral) argument I offered in my controversial oped: if a 16 year old has the constitutional right to have an abortion without state or parental interference, how could she not have the constitutional right to engage in consensual sex?”

Users on Twitter expressed their distaste for Dershowitz’s argument by calling him “creepy” and other names.

In a detailed, alleged account of Dershowitz’s legal career, personal life, and controversies published by the New Yorker on Monday, passages included details about a potentially abusive relationship with his first wife, Sue Barlach, to whom he was married for 14 years and had two sons. Barlach was said to have been in such poor health due to her relationship with Dershowitz that a judge in their 1976 divorce proceedings suggested that she seek medical and psychiatric care.

A bitter custody battle over their two children ensued, with Dershowitz asserting that Barlach was not stable enough to care for their sons. She jumped to her death from the Brooklyn Bridge on New Year’s Eve 1983.

Dershowitz, 80, remarried in 1986 to his current wife, Caroyln Cohen, a former neuropsychologist.

In light of the indictment of his known acquaintance, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Dershowitz commented earlier this month that he was relieved to not have been mentioned in the salacious indictment of the billionaire accused of years of assault on young girls.

He said of the 14-page document, which detailed abuse and sexual assault of several underage girls, “From my point of view, the important thing is that it doesn’t mention me.” Dershowitz further distanced himself from Epstein by saying, “Since the day I met Jeffrey Epstein, I’ve only had sex with one woman. It’s very easy to remember when you’ve only had sex with your wife.”

Dershowitz continued his defense of his 1997 words on Monday of his claim that 16-year-olds should be legally allowed to consent to sexual activity saying, “I challenge my readers to distinguish the cases, as a matter of constitutional law. I did not suggest that it is moral to have sex with a 16 year old, but rather that the issue presents a constitutional conundrum worthy of discussion … I also pointed out that, statutory rape laws are applied quite selectively and often against young teenagers. That’s why I also say there are Romeo and Juliet exceptions. Lets debate not name call.”