Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
I profoundly enjoyed recently reading a piece by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution discussing how Georgia’s sex offender law goes too far. The story, as portrayed by the AJC, goes like this.
Andrew Norton grew up in a brutish household. His stepfather beat him and his brothers and made them watch pornography with him. Norton [...]
Originally [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
According to reports coming out of Colorado, a dozen streakers in Boulder’s annual Naked Pumpkin Run were ticketed by law enforcement officers on Halloween night – for indecent exposure – after running naked with a wobbly orange squash on their heads along the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.
This annual event, which draws a [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
I believe it is important to begin by pointing out the fundamental principle of criminal law that a person is guilty of a crime only if he commits the bad criminal act with a corresponding mental culpability. In fact, according to the Model Penal Code, a crime only occurs upon the concurrence of [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
One of the central problems I have with this “Strict Liability” framework is the fact that the accused is automatically guilty even if he believed the age of his partner to be the required legal age. As such, I believe Strict Liability denies a defendant due process of law as he is, essentially, [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
In speaking against the Strict Liability framework that most U.S. states follow when it comes to statutory rape prosecutions, I believe well-renowned Justice Robert M. Bell argued very convincingly when he said:
“A man who engages in consensual intercourse in the reasonable belief that his partner has reached the age of consent evidences no [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
In evaluating the first concept, the risk assumed by the actor today, when engaging in what is believed to be legally consensual sexual activity, is (certainly) far different from the risk it was 50 years ago. Sexual activity that occurred outside of marriage decades ago was considered ‘risky’ by the laws and courts [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
I believe it is also time to realize that having the wrong people on the sex offender registry risks hurting the whole community in many ways. While this group of registered sex offenders represents the minority of those registered, there are still substantial numbers of young men and women forced to register for [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
Four separate views of the mistake of age defense can be identified in current state statutes. The first group of statutes, enacted in ten jurisdictions, prohibits the use of the mistake of age defense for sex offenses in which the age of the victim is an element of the offense.
Second, at the [...]
Originally [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
Whatever the underlying basis for the statutory rape conviction – intentional exploitation of a young child, or strict liability in the face of a reasonable mistake – all who are convicted in the vast majority of jurisdictions are subject to sexual offender registration laws, and the consequences of such registration.
Although the motivation behind [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
Today it is widely believed that sex crime convictions like statutory rape equate directly with job loss and employment opportunities, possible residency restrictions, and a general inability to provide for a future family through gainful employment and parental involvement (volunteering, coaching, and chaperoning) in the lives of future children.
The underlying problem here, [...]
Originally [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
In our criminal justice system, American women have reportedly filed an excruciating amount of false allegations against men for rape and sexual assault. In fact, the reality is alarming (if not truly devastating). According to FBI surveys, eight percent of all rape charges are completely unfounded (Dershowitz) – compared to 1.6% of assault [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
There are a few well-known facts about false allegations. First, every allegation is said to be different, and appearances often deceive. Further, certain indicators should be investigated in order to separate truthful allegations from fabricated ones. These false allegations appear to serve three major functions for the complainants: providing an alibi, seeking revenge, [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
LITTLE OR NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE REQUIRED
A monumental problem depicting the severity of these false accusations is how a rape accusation can potentially destroy a man’s life, even if it is false. Not to mention that it is hard to defend yourself – even if it is false.
Perhaps the underlying problem here [...]
Originally posted [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
The term, “He said/she said” is often heard in the unfortunate case of rape. In this situation the term applies to the fact that when there is little factual evidence on which to base a decision the jury is left trying to determine who’s story they believe and the case becomes one of [...]
Douglas Slain | November 26, 2008
By Alex Pak
False accusations of rape are a form of psychological rape that can emotionally, socially, and economically destroy a person even if there is no conviction. The stigma attaches to the falsely accused for life. Few believe them and few care. Prosecutors systematically refuse to prosecute the perpetrators. And victims’ advocates refuse to see [...]
Proudly Powered by WordPress | Theme by The Cloisters | Entries RSS Comments RSS
