California legal loophole allows rapist to walk free - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20918642[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]California lawmakers have vowed to close a loophole that allowed a man's rape conviction to be overturned because his victim was not married.[/B] An arcane state law says a person who gets consent for sex by pretending to be someone else is guilty of rape only if posing as the victim's spouse. Julio Morales was initially convicted of rape after tricking a woman into sex by pretending to be her boyfriend. A similar loophole has already been closed in the state of Idaho. In the California case from four years ago, Morales went into a room and had sex with an 18-year-old woman after her boyfriend, whom she had fallen asleep beside, had left. [B]Tricked into sex[/B] She awoke to the sensation of having sex with Morales, a friend of her brother. She only realised the man in her bed was not her partner when a ray of light from outside the room flashed across his face. Defence lawyers argued that Morales believed the sex was consensual because the victim had responded to his kisses and caresses. But he was sentenced to three years in prison. In its ruling on Wednesday, the California appeal court reluctantly decided that Morales was not guilty of rape, because he was pretending to be the woman's boyfriend and not her husband. A law dating back to 1872 makes it a crime for a man to have sex with a woman while posing as her husband, but not as a boyfriend. Judge Thomas Willhite wrote in the court's decision: "Has the man committed rape? Because of historical anomalies in the law and the statutory definition of rape, the answer is no, even though, if the woman had been married and the man had impersonated her husband, the answer would be yes." A similar law in the state of Idaho prevented an unmarried woman from pressing rape charges three years ago after she was tricked into sex with a stranger by her then-boyfriend. Idaho's law was amended to cover all women in 2011. California Attorney General Kamala Harris has promised to work with politicians to amend that state's law. State assemblyman Katcho Achadjian said on Friday that he would introduce a bill. "Californians are justifiably outraged by this court ruling, and it is important that the legislature join together to close whatever loopholes may exist in the law and uphold justice for rape victims," he said. Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said she would back him. "Allowing this [law] to stand in the 21st Century would be like applying horse and buggy standards to our freeways," she said in a statement, reported by the Los Angeles Times.[/quote]

it's a good thing all our laws are up to date

How shit like this goes undetected for so long is baffling. You'd think at some point, they would have revised their sexual assault laws and noticed this, or passed a more modern law that would have nullified this one.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;39104602]How shit like this goes undetected for so long is baffling. You'd think at some point, they would have revised their sexual assault laws and noticed this, or passed a more modern law that would have nullified this one.[/QUOTE] Or they would've noticed when this happened [quote]A similar law in the state of Idaho prevented an unmarried woman from pressing rape charges [B]three years ago[/B] after she was tricked into sex with a stranger by her then-boyfriend.[/quote]

How didn't she notice any changes between the raper, and her husband? Do they have the same body size, shape, and everything? Only thing that changes is the face? How could she be tricked like that? Shitty case regardless, the laws are fucked up.

[QUOTE=SatansSin;39104628]How didn't she notice any changes between the raper, and her husband? Do they have the same body size, shape, and everything? Only thing that changes is the face? How could she be tricked like that? Shitty case regardless, the laws are fucked up.[/QUOTE] sleep logic fucks with your senses man.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;39104602]How shit like this goes undetected for so long is baffling. You'd think at some point, they would have revised their sexual assault laws and noticed this, or passed a more modern law that would have nullified this one.[/QUOTE] Generally laws like these are so obscure that nobody notices or updates them until something like this happens, on the bright side this will probably provoke it being fixed.

I love how states still have these old-timey laws still laying around. It's technically still illegal for me to fuck a man and be a communist in my own state.

[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];39105069']I love how states still have these old-timey laws still laying around. It's technically still illegal for me to fuck a man and be a communist in my own state.[/QUOTE] wait, is that at the same time?

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39105101]wait, is that at the same time?[/QUOTE] communal man fucking

[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];39105069']I love how states still have these old-timey laws still laying around. It's technically still illegal for me to fuck a man and be a communist in my own state.[/QUOTE] Sodomy and dildos (or penis shaped items of the like) are illegal in my state.

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39105101]wait, is that at the same time?[/QUOTE] You can fuck a man, and you can be a communist.... just not at the same time.

[QUOTE=Irkalla;39105357]Sodomy and dildos (or penis shaped items of the like) are illegal in my state.[/QUOTE] You need to make a dildo helicopter and fast

Why would anyone ever make a law stating that rape under specific circumstances is [I]not[/I] rape?

[QUOTE=Forumaster;39105811]Why would anyone ever make a law stating that rape under specific circumstances is [I]not[/I] rape?[/QUOTE] Under certain circumstances it's a lot harder to confirm it was rape. I'm not saying rape doesn't happen but there are people who would consent then blackmail someone by saying they were raped.

[QUOTE=SatansSin;39104628]How didn't she notice any changes between the raper, and her husband? Do they have the same body size, shape, and everything? Only thing that changes is the face? How could she be tricked like that? Shitty case regardless, the laws are fucked up.[/QUOTE] Considering this was after she woke up, and when people wake up they all smell sweaty and stuff so it's hard to distinguish by smell, it was dark and you don't really overthink stuff just after you wake up so it's an easy mistake to make as long as the body proportions are relatively alike.

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39105101]wait, is that at the same time?[/QUOTE] Well, if it is, that turns two charges against me into one.

[QUOTE=Forumaster;39105811]Why would anyone ever make a law stating that rape under specific circumstances is [I]not[/I] rape?[/QUOTE] A lot of places used to say it was impossible for a man to rape his wife, or something to a similar effect. Presumably why this law exists.

"Oh, you weren't married? He was just your boyfriend? Well yeah, you're shit outta luck missy!"

b-b-but guys women have the advantage in society, MRA told me so!

I remember Kevin Rudd banned small boobs and cartoon porn in Australia. Im really breaking the law every single night. Hell, I just went and broke the law.

I'm not going to become "that guy" who says everyone should become like contintental Europe, but a judge here would probably have looked at the law and said "The intention of this old-timey law maker was clear and we can expand the definition of "husband" to "lover" so we can use the law as intended"

YES TAKE THAT CALIFORNIA, YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN TEXAS also, wow, that's just fucking stupid.