Merton v. State

Harry L. Merton was convicted of the first degree rape and sodomy of an eight-year-old child. Sentence was life imprisonment in each case, and a victim compensation fine of $5000. Four issues are raised on appeal.

I

The defendant argues that Alabama's first degree rape statute, § 13A-6-61, Code of Alabama 1975, and first degree sodomy statute, § 13A-6-63, are unconstitutional and in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because the statutes criminalize "conduct by unmarried people as a class when the same conduct is not criminal…