Last week, an Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian man to 18 months in jail for committing the crime of rape by deception. The man had posed as an Israeli in order to try to assimilate better into Israeli society. He met an Israeli woman on the street in a casual encounter and then had consensual sex in an office building the same day. When the woman found out that he was an Arab, she contacted the police. Rape by deception is a troubling concept. There are two states in the U.S., California and Tennessee, which have rape by deception statutes, and Massachusetts is considering it. Having such a law opens up Pandora’s Box, so to speak. Would a white woman who had sex with a man be able to bring a rape by deception charge against a light skinned black man who told her he was white. How about a Jewish man who lied that he was Christian? Or a janitor who lied and said he was a multimillion dollar CEO? Where does it end? Could a Philadelphia Eagles fan claim rape by deception if a Dallas Cowboys fan pretended to be an Eagles fan? Would men be able to sue women for rape by deception if they said they were 36 years old on their Match.com profile when in fact they were 46 years old? I don’t mean to minimize the horrible crime of rape, but where would rape by deception end?
google adsense
-
Recent Posts
- The Library Journal Recommended my Book Skewed
- Here is my Newsweek article on the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S.
- Join the Fight Against Fake News
- Here is My Article in The Hill on Fake News in the Age of Trump
- My Book Skewed Was Reviewed and Recommended by a University of Minnesota Library Podcast
Recent Comments
- max on Here’s my latest Huffington Post article on the media and Elliot Rodger
- Stephen on Here is my Op-Ed on Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia in Newsworks.org, which is WHYY’s website
- jesse on My Latest Huffington Post Article: Advocacy Journalism is Polarizing Our Country
- Jay on I’m quoted in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer Article on Hashtag Activism
- miguel on My Latest Huffington Post Article on Hashtag Activism
google ads
Archives
- August 2018
- August 2017
- August 2016
- January 2016
- August 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- January 2014
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- January 2012
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- March 2011
- January 2011
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
Categories
Meta
How about this idea:
No more stupid, frivolous lawsuits like this one.
Rape is forced sex. Most sex outside of (and sometimes in) marriage has elements of deception in it, but that does not make it rape.