They’re updating the definition so that rape can mean a wider variety of acts. The well-publicized trial of E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump probably helped the change.
I’m sure this will cause a great deal of hand-wringing among conservatives for vague reasons like “but Hunter Biden’s laptop” and “words have meaning” and “as the son of a mother and the brother of a sister, I certainly don’t condone this sort of thing, but…”
If anyone’s interested, here’s how sexual intercourse is defined in the Washington State rape laws:
(14) “Sexual intercourse” (a) has its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any penetration, however slight, and
(b) Also means any penetration of the vagina or anus however slight, by an object, when committed on one person by another, whether such persons are of the same or opposite sex, except when such penetration is accomplished for medically recognized treatment or diagnostic purposes, and
(c) Also means any act of sexual contact between persons involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another whether such persons are of the same or opposite sex.
About time, IMO, and actually well past time. “It wasn’t rape because it was anal” or “it wasn’t rape because an object was used instead of a penis” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
Hopefully, other states take this as a good idea and run with it.
I think some already have.
Why does it matter whether it is called/prosecuted as rape vs sexual assault?
Because (I think) the defamation charge involved her allegation that he “raped her” not “sexually assaulted” her. Judge Kaplan said it doesn’t matter.
My question was, so long as the offender is punished , why does it matter whether the crime is designated “rape”, “sexual assault”, or something else.
Because there are idiots out there (like Trump) who are saying “It doesn’t meet the official legal definition of rape, therefore it’s OK”. Those idiots need to be smacked down.
Well, today I learned that apparently NYS does not recognize the crime of “rape by instrumentation.”
IIRC that was a big thing in the Fatty Arbuckle days, and I assumed similar statutes existed widely among the states.
New Jersey does not have that problem because the word rape doesn’t appear anywhere in the criminal statutes. There is no confusion between the colloquial definition of the word and the legal definition of sexual assault.
Allow me to assure you that as a lifelong conservative, I fully and whole-heartedly endorse this legislation.
Yeah, I’m also not seeing any conceptual hurdle, here.
I can see some ways this will, without doubt, get spun.
Coming soon to a rightwing loony ‘’‘’‘news’‘’‘’ site near you,
‘In a blatant act to hide the sex crimes of LGBT pedophiles and make them legal, NY takes sodomy laws off the books.’