Rape Shield Laws
Should All Evidence Be Admissible in Court?Sex plays a major role in today's society. From television, radio, music, and advertisements, to video games, the Internet, and even art and pictures, all forms of media use sex to help sell their products. With the public being exposed to so many different types, the overuse and exploitation of sex is common. Nowadays, people just have sex with anyone and often times regret their actions afterwards. This makes it difficult for law officials to separate rape victims from promiscuous women who use the court system as an object of revenge to get back at their sex partners for whatever reason. (Blumner, "Rape Shield Laws Have Outlived Their Usefulness"). Many states have rape shield laws set up to protect the women in court from slanderous remarks, but the law violates the defendant's sixth amendment right and should be reconsidered.Rape shield laws date back to the 1970's. Because of pressure from feminist activists, lawyers, and legislators, most states enacted the rape shield law to ease the emotional burden of rape victims. Rape shield laws are present in forty-nine states with the exception of Arizona. (Rape Shield Law-What You Need to Know, pars. 1-2). The law limits the
In surveys, about three-quarters of Americans agree that a woman's past sexual life should not be an issue in a case. Works CitedBlumner, Robyn D. However, whether the woman is a known 'slut' who has a history of accusing rape on numerous men is very important. In cases involving people who are intimate with one another, sometimes the best evidence of a false rape claim is examples of similar vengeful behaviors within past relationships, the very proof bared by rape shield laws. It is okay to protect women from rape, but lawmakers must find a way to do so without infringing on the rights guaranteed to others. To ask such questions is not only cruel and degrading, but also very irrelevant to whether or not she consented to sex with the man in the dock. 4)Rape shield laws violate the sixth amendment rights of the defendant.
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