Caltrops - Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego





	[quote name="Horrible Gelatinous Blob"][quote name="Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS)"]I discovered something interesting which I think is a quirk in the rules here in Maryland. Apparently, if I'm reading the statute correctly, having sex with someone without their consent requires some form of force or threat of force to be a crime. § 3-303 of Maryland's criminal code defines Rape 1 as vaginal intercourse with another by force or threat of force and without consent while using a dangerous weapon. § 3-304 defines Rape 2 as vaginal intercourse with another by force or threat of force and without consent. The odd thing is that the law here in Maryland does not seem to make having sex - vaginal intercourse - with someone without their consent but not using force as a crime. My guess is that getting on top of her probably constitutes the "force" and that's how they'd charge the crime.[/quote] It's not "a quirk here in Maryland." The traditional definition of rape includes the force requirement, meaning force above and beyond that incidental to intercourse. The force requirement used to be viewed as integral to rape statutes, as it made physical evidence a critical part of a rape accusation. In the past 30 years or so, more and more jurisdictions have either legislated the force requirement away or read it out judicially by interpreting the act itself as being sufficient to meet the requirement, as you deduced. In jurisdictions that still follow the force requirement, "sexual assault" and the ilk fill the gap for non-consensual sexual crimes that don't involve force. Here's a hypo for you: an eighteen year old high school student is about to graduate as valedictorian of her class with a full scholarship to her local state school. A week before commencement, the principal calls her into his office and tells her that he knows that she's in the country illegally. However, he says that he will not turn her in if she agrees to have sex with him, meaning that she will still graduate and can attend college. Feeling like she has no choice with the spectre of expulsion, arrest, and deportation looming over her, she gives in. Rape or not rape?[/quote]