Caltrops - Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego





	[quote name="Horrible Gelatinous Blob"]I just wanted to reiterate how wrong you are and tell you that if you take a moment to think about it, you'll understand why sex cannot qualify as "services" or "something of value" under the law. If you don't see why classifying sex as a service with inherent monetary value that is easily exchanged for property is wrong, then you have to hold the opinion that rape is a property crime, not a violation of personal autonomy. That's the line of thinking that leads to the old misogynist saw that prostitutes can't be raped; there can only be theft of services. Consider Wyoming's blackmail statute: [quote]§ 6-2-402. Blackmail; aggravated blackmail; penalties. (a) A person commits blackmail if, with the intent to obtain property of another <b>or to compel action or inaction by any person against his will</b>, the person: (i) Threatens bodily injury or injury to the property of another person; or (ii) Accuses or threatens to accuse a person of a crime or immoral conduct which would tend to degrade or disgrace the person or subject him to the ridicule or contempt of society. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, blackmail is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years. [/quote] You see how that's separated out from property? You see how broad "compel action or inaction by any person against his will" is? Nothing in how this statute is verbally constructed is there by happenstance. You're right in that this hypo would probably be covered under Wyoming's blackmail statute (assuming it's not too broad), but contrast this to all of the other extortion statutes. They focus on wrongful gain of property or labor that would normally be paid for by property. What does this tell you about the definition of extortion? What does this tell you about the definition of blackmail? Are they interchangeable? The point of this was to think about the lines between threats and offers and how thin they can be. It's legal for the principal to turn in (or refuse to turn in) the student, it's legal for the principal to ask the student for sex, but it's not legal to connect the two under any circumstance? What if he asks for sex, she says no, and then he picks up the phone and dials ICE? If she then offers sex so that he'll hang up, is it rape? You've got a super-rigid worldview and you insist on concrete answers, but for a multitude of reasons it's not always so simple. Look past the hypo and think about the larger social implications of your choice. <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/montana/supreme-court/1990/773d64d9-24fb-4cb9-853b-1edcce7ad508.html">The case that the original hypo was based on.</a>[/quote]