Congressional Page sex scandal
Overview
The 1983 Congressional Page sex scandal was a political scandal
in the United States
involving members of the United States House of Representatives
.
On July 14, 1983 the House Ethics Committee recommended that Rep. Dan Crane
(R
-IL) and Rep. Gerry Studds
(D
-MA) be reprimand
ed for having engaged in sexual
relationships with minor
s, specifically 17-year-old congressional page
s.
Political scandal
A political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
involving members of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
On July 14, 1983 the House Ethics Committee recommended that Rep. Dan Crane
Dan Crane
Daniel Bever Crane is a dentist and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as a Republican congressman from 1979 to 1985. In 1983, he was censured by the House....
(R
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-IL) and Rep. Gerry Studds
Gerry Studds
Gerry Eastman Studds was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay member of Congress in the U.S. In 1983 he was censured by the House of Representatives after he admitted to having had an affair with a 17-year-old page in...
(D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
-MA) be reprimand
Reprimand
A reprimand is a severe, formal or official reproof. Reprimanding takes in different forms in different legal systems, such as in UK law.- UK :...
ed for having engaged in sexual
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
relationships with minor
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
s, specifically 17-year-old congressional page
United States House of Representatives Page
United States House of Representatives Page Program was a program run by the United States House of Representatives, under the office of the Clerk of the House, in which appointed high school juniors acted as non-partisan federal employees in the House of Representatives, providing supplemental...
s.
