The Challenges of Rape Law Reform: America's New Model Penal Code

By Stephen Schulhofer

In recent years, efforts to update and improve the criminal laws governing sexual assault have been a high priority throughout the world. This article recounts how one facet of that process unfolded in the United States, the compromises and contradictions it generated, and the final upshot of that effort. Although this facet of the American reform process has reached its end-point, efforts to reform the law of sexual assault are inevitably an ongoing work-in-progress. The conclusions reached could be viewed differently by others and might even be revisited at some later date by ourselves. The article also identifies several areas where the conclusions discussed could benefit from further research and analysis.

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law Working Paper No. 11/2023