NCJ Number
181527
Journal
Stanford Law Review Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 463-508
Date Published
January 2000
Length
46 pages
Annotation
This Note suggests possible improvements in the prosecution of statutory rape cases and discusses the more radical proposal to eliminate many statutory rape laws altogether.
Abstract
The Note examines the dilemma of statutory rape in light of the recent nationwide trend toward stricter statutory rape laws and increased enforcement activity. Part 1 contains a brief historical overview of statutory rape laws, focusing on the changing normative goals underlying the laws in different historical contexts. Part 2 locates the origins of current legislative and enforcement trends in the recent movement to reform the U.S. welfare system. Part 3 surveys various States’ legislative and enforcement efforts to “get tough” on statutory rape. Part 4 examines some of the analytical difficulties presented by stricter statutory rape laws and their aggressive enforcement, specifically: teens’ capacity for consent and the role teens should play in the prosecution decision; the privacy and substantive due process rights of both teens and offenders; and the practical needs of parenting teens. Part 5 explores the inherent problems and paradoxes in the current legislative and enforcement trends, particularly the conflicting goals of aggressively punitive policies; the disconnect between the law in theory and the law as it is applied; and the fact that stricter laws and policies are unlikely to have a significant effect. These findings suggest reconsidering whether to have statutory rape laws at all. Notes