United States (1984), New York State Court of Appeals
People v. Liberta
64 N.Y.2d 152, 474 N.E.2d 567, 485 N.Y.S.2d 207(1984)
After brutally attacking his estranged wife in front of their son, the defendant was indicted for rape in the first degree and sodomy in the first degree. The Court declared the marital exemption for rape in the New York statute to be unconstitutional.
“A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman…We find that there is no rational basis for distinguishing between marital rape and non marital rape. The various rationales which have been asserted in defense of the exemption are either based upon archaic notions about the consent and property rights incident to marriage or are simply unable to withstand even the slightest scrutiny.” (Quoted form Original Judgment)
0 comments:
Post a Comment