Today we’re discussing what is probably one of the uglier topics to be discussed. Rape.
Some interesting things in the news lately:
- Students at University of Maryland are protesting because they feel they should be able to name their alleged assailants on a public forum. The University of Maryland disagrees. Learn more.
- The Court of Appeals is currently considering a case, Baby v. State (pdf)that came to them from the Court of Special Appeals that says that post-penetration rape basically doesn’t exist. Maryland currently says that if a woman gives or indicates initial consent, she cannot withdraw it after she is penetrated. Why? According to the Court of Special Appeals, which based their unwillingness to call this rape based on the outcome of a 198o case Battle v. State:
“The concept, undergirding the Battle holding, rooted in ancient laws by English common law, views the initial ‘deflowering’ of as the real harm or insult which must be redressed by compensating, in legal contemplation, the injured party – the father or husband. … [I]t was the act of penetration that was the essence of the crime of rape; after this initial infringement upon the responsible male’s interest in a woman’s sexual and reproductive functions, any further injury was considered to be less consequential.”
-from Court of Special Appeals, Opinion by J. Davis, filed February 9, 2007
I mean WOW, just WOW. Right?
Join us today. We’re going to be talking about rape in the modern world–how we deal with it socially and legally. How does our culture treat people who allege they were victimized? How do we treat alleged assailants?
Here is a link to the op-edwritten in The Baltimore Sun by Glenn Sacks, one of our guests, in which he supports the University of Maryland’s decision to deny protesters a forum to publicly name alleged rapists.
Bring your comments and questions….
-Jessica
