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How To Think (Like A Lawyer) About Rape, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan, Peter K. Westen
How To Think (Like A Lawyer) About Rape, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan, Peter K. Westen
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From the American Law Institute to college campuses, there is a renewed interest in the law of rape. Law school faculty, however, may be reluctant to teach this deeply debated topic. This article begins from the premise that controversial and contested questions can be best resolved when participants understand the conceptual architecture that surrounds and delineates the normative questions. This allows participants to talk to one another instead of past each other. Accordingly, in this article, we begin by diffusing two non-debates: the apparent conflict created when we use “consent” to mean two different things and the question of whether …
A Reckless Response To Rape: A Reply To Ayres And Baker, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
A Reckless Response To Rape: A Reply To Ayres And Baker, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
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In a recent article in the University of Chicago Law Review, Professors Ian Ayres and Katharine Baker propose the crime of "reckless sexual conduct," criminalizing unprotected first-encounter sexual intercourse. The goals of this proposal are to combat the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases by requiring condom use and to reduce acquaintance rape by "forcing" communication. While the goals are admirable, the proposal is deeply flawed. As public health legislation, it is overinclusive, thereby punishing the morally innocent, and its conception of consent as an affirmative defense fundamentally misunderstands criminal responsibility. As rape reform, which is arguably the true aim of …