DOCUMENT 41

ELECTRONICALLY FILED
4/22/2016 11:39 AM
52-DC-2016-000622.00
CIRCUIT COURT OF
MORGAN COUNTY, ALABAMA
CHRIS PRIEST, CLERK

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF MORGAN COUNTY, ALABAMA

STATE OF ALABAMA
V.
WITT CARRIE CABRI
Defendant.

)
)
) Case Nos.:
)
)
)
)

DC-2016-000622.00
DC-2016-000623.00

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO HOLD CHARGING STATUTE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The defendant, Carrie Witt, has challenged the constitutionality of Alabama Code
Section 13A-6-81 (2015). Essentially, she argues that she has a constitutional right of privacy
to engage in consensual sex acts with whomever she chooses. Defendants brief at page 9.
The court denies the defendants motion for the reasons set out below.
Constitutional liberties may be restrained when the state has a legitimate interest in
doing so. The classic example is, while American citizens enjoy the freedom of speech, one
cannot yell fire in a crowded movie theater. Freedom of speech can be restricted. Schenck v.
United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (1919). These state restraints can extend to the selection of
sexual partners. Incest laws have been upheld after the Supreme Courts ruling in Lawrence v.
Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), relied upon so heavily by the defendant. See Lowe v. Swanson,
663 F.3d 258 (6th Cir. 2011).
The State has a strong and legitimate interest in the welfare of its young citizens,
whose immaturity, inexperience, and lack of judgment may sometimes impair their ability to
exercise their rights wisely. Hodgston v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417, 444 (1989). And this court

DOCUMENT 41

finds that interest includes the sacredness of the school setting, where students and the
parents of those students should not have to be concerned about teachers or other school
employees breaching the trust the students, the parents, and the community place in them by
seeking out sexual partners among the student body. As the Kansas Court of Appeals
reasoned in affirming a similar statute in State v. Edwards, 288 P.3d 494 (Kan. App. 2012):
Teachers are vested with a great deal of trust by the school districts, the
parents, the public, and the students themselves. Our legislature has sought to
preserve that trust by prohibiting teachers from misusing their access to
students as a means to obtain sex. A sexually charged learning environment
would confuse, disturb, and distract students, thus undermining the quality of
education in Kansas.
Id. at 502.
Therefore, the defendant's motion to hold the charging statute unconstitutional is
denied. Because the circuit court is not bound by this holding, should the defendant be
indicted she may raise this same issue again in the circuit court.
These cases remain set for preliminary hearing for May 3, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.
DONE this 22nd day of April, 2016.
/s/ BRENT CRAIG
DISTRICT JUDGE