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“THE LAW'S THE LAW, BUT FAIR IS FAIR:” RAPE SHIELD LAWS AND OFFICIALS' ASSESSMENTS OF SEXUAL HISTORY EVIDENCE *
Author(s) -
SPOHN CASSIA,
HORNEY JULIE
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1991.tb01062.x
Subject(s) - plaintiff , law , statute , sexual history , admissible evidence , affect (linguistics) , political science , shield , criminology , psychology , petrology , geology , medicine , communication , family medicine
Recently enacted rape shield laws, which restrict the introduction of evidence of the complainant's prior sexual conduct, have engendered considerable controversy. This paper examines the responses of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys in six major urban jurisdictions to a set of hypothetical cases in which evidence of the victim's past sexual conduct is at issue. The different kinds of sexual history evidence evoke different responses from officials, and the specific provisions of the six rape shield statutes also affect officials' judgments.