Model Penal Code:

Sexual Assault and Related Offenses

This project is re-examining Article 213 of the Model Penal Code, which was ahead of its time when approved by ALI in 1962, but is now outdated and no longer a reliable guide for legislatures and courts.

Status Details

Portions of each section of this project have been drafted, including definitions of “Consent” and “Sexual Penetration” and provisions on Forcible Rape, Sexual Penetration Without Consent, Rape or Sexual Penetration of a Vulnerable Person, and Sexual Penetration by Coercion or Exploitation. Each of these sections includes the grading of the offense.

At the 2017 Annual Meeting, the definitions of “Sexual Penetration” and “Oral Sex” were discussed and approved as presented in the draft after a motion on each definition was presented from the floor and did not pass. There was discussion on 213.1, but there was not enough time for all motions on this section to be considered. The following are details of the actions taken at the 2017 Annual Meeting:

A motion to add “purposeful” to Section 213.0(1) failed.
A motion to replace “touching” in Section 213.0(2) failed.
A motion to move the mens rea from the end to the beginning of Section 213.1 was accepted by the Reporters as a friendly amendment.
A motion to remove “recklessly” from Section 213.1 passed.
As previously announced, the meeting had to stop at noon for the Life Members Lunch.
A Boskey motion to approve Sections 213.0(1) and 213.0(2) passed.
Section 213.1 will be reviewed at future meetings.

For an in-depth description of this project, please visit the Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault page of the The ALI Adviser.

Project Video

Project Reporter Stephen Schulhofer and Associate Reporter Erin Murphy discuss the project in this short video:

Reporter

Stephen J. Schulhofer New York University School of Law
New York, NY

Associate Reporter

Erin E. Murphy New York University School of Law
New York, NY

Advisers

Michelle J. Anderson Brooklyn College
Brooklyn, NY

Susan Frelich Appleton Washington University School of Law
Saint Louis, MO

Thomas Bergstrom Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Philadelphia, PA

Janis M. Berry Rubin and Rudman LLP
Boston, MA

Mary Patrice Brown O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Washington, DC

Samuel W. Buell Duke University School of Law
Durham, NC

I. Bennett Capers Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY

W. Tucker Carrington The University of Mississippi School of Law
University, MS

Robert M. Cary Williams & Connolly, LLP
Washington, DC

Herschella G. Conyers University of Chicago Law School
Chicago, IL

Deborah W. Denno Fordham University School of Law
New York, NY

Paul Steven Diamond U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Arthur T. Donato Media, PA

Ronald Eisenberg Philadelphia District Attorney's Office
Philadelphia, PA

Donna Lee Elm Federal Defender's Office, District of Florida
Tampa, FL

Mary Fan University of Washington School of Law
Seattle, WA

Kimberly Kessler Ferzan University of Virginia School of Law
Charlottesville, VA

Terry L. Fromson Women's Law Project
Philadelphia, PA

Aya Gruber University of Colorado, Boulder Law School
Boulder, CO

Rosemary Hart U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC

Barbara Parker Hervey Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Austin, TX

Kelly A. Higashi U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia
Washington, DC

William M. Jackson District of Columbia Superior Court
Washington, DC

Virginia M. Kendall U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Chicago, IL

Nelly N. Khouzam Florida Second District Court of Appeal
Tampa, FL

Derek P. Langhauser Maine Community College System
South Portland, ME

Jennifer G. Long AEquitas
Washington, DC

Gerard E. Lynch U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
New York, NY

Catharine A. MacKinnon University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI

Nancy E. O'Malley Alameda County District Attorney's Office
Oakland, CA

Wendy L. Patrick County of San Diego District Attorney's Office
San Diego, CA

Lawrence Peterson Public Defenders Office of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Katherian D. Roe Office of Federal Public Defender, U.S. Courthouse
Minneapolis, MN

Lee H. Rosenthal U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
Houston, TX

David Rudovsky Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg LLP
Philadelphia, PA

Jon M. Sands District of Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

Suellyn Scarnecchia University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI

Abbe Smith Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC

Darryl Antonio Stallworth The Law Office of Darryl A. Stallworth
Oakland, CA

Carol S. Steiker Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Jeannie Suk Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. Harvard Law School, Criminal Justice Institute
Cambridge, MA

Reggie B. Walton U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Washington, DC

Joan Patricia Weber San Diego Superior Court
San Diego, CA

Liaison

Patrick Fergusson RAINN
Washington, DC

Rebecca Henry ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence
Washington, DC

Michael J. Iacopino Brennan Lenehan
Manchester, NH

Norman L. Reimer National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Washington, DC

Ebony Tucker National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
Washington, DC

Members Consultative Group

Elizabeth K. Ainslie Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
Philadelphia, PA

James J. Alfini South Texas College of Law Houston
Houston, TX

Ronald J. Allen Northwestern University School of Law
Chicago, IL

José F. Anderson University of Baltimore School of Law
Baltimore, MD

Richard T. Andrias Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Dept.
New York, NY

Joseph R. Bankoff Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA

Jennifer S. Bard University of Cincinnati College of Law
Cincinnati, OH

Flora L. Becker Philadelphia, PA

John S. Beckerman Moorestown, NJ, USA

Warren Belmar Capitol Counsel Group, LLC
Washington, DC

Dianne Bennett Hodgson Russ LLP
Buffalo, NY

Brian Bix University of Minnesota Law School
Minneapolis, MN

Christopher L. Blakesley University of Nevada, William S. Boyd School of Law
Las Vegas, NV

Steven M. Bradford HNI Corporation
Muscatine, IA

Russell J. Bruemmer WilmerHale (Retired)
Washington, DC

Ellen M. Bublick The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law
Tucson, AZ

José A. Cabranes U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
New Haven, CT

Michael T. Cahill Rutgers University School of Law
Camden, NJ

Terry Calvani Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP
Washington, DC

Catherine L. Carpenter Southwestern Law School
Los Angeles, CA

Eric R. Carpenter Florida International University College of Law
Miami, FL

John Hill Cayce Kelly Hart & Hallman, LLP
Fort Worth, TX

Martha E. Chamallas Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law
Columbus, OH

Henry L. Chambers, Jr. University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law
Richmond, VA

Steven L. Chanenson Villanova University School of Law
Villanova, PA

Dane S. Ciolino Loyola University, New Orleans School of Law
New Orleans, LA

Roger S. Clark Rutgers Law School
Camden, NJ

Thomas L. Cubbage, III Covington & Burling LLP
Washington, DC

Richard Olaf Cunningham Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Washington, DC

Beverly Winslow Cutler Alaska Superior Court, Third Judicial District
Palmer, AK

George A. Davidson Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
New York, NY

Ross E. Davies The Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
Arlington, VA

Michelle Madden Dempsey Villanova University School of Law
Villanova, PA

John L. Diamond University of California, Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, CA

Donald L. Doernberg Pace University School of Law
White Plains, NY

Joshua Dressler Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law
Columbus, OH

Jennifer Ann Drobac Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Indianapolis, IN

Meredith J. Duncan University of Houston Law Center
Houston, TX

Christine M. Durham Utah Supreme Court
Salt Lake City, UT

Cindy Dyer Vital Voices Global Partnership
Washington, DC

Ilana H. Eisenstein U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC

Ira Mark Ellman Berkeley, CA, USA

Sheldon H. Elsen JAMS
New York, NY

Roger A. Fairfax, Jr. George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Ira M. Feinberg Hogan Lovells US LLP
New York, NY

James E. Felman Kynes, Markman & Felman, PA
Tampa, FL

Herbert L. Fenster Covington & Burling LLP
Washington, DC

Eugene R. Fidell Yale Law School
New Haven, CT

Arthur Norman Field Field Consulting Services LLC
New York, NY

Edward B. Foley Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law
Columbus, OH

Susan S. Fortney Texas A&M University School of Law
Fort Worth, TX

C. Allen Foster Whiteford Taylor Preston, LLP
Washington, DC

Eric M. Freedman Hofstra University School of Law
Hempstead, NY

Robert Shenton French Perth, Australia

Andrew L. Frey Mayer Brown LLP
New York, NY

Charles Fried Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Paul L. Friedman U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Washington, DC

Haley J. Fromholz JAMS
Los Angeles, CA

Kenneth S. Gallant University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law
Little Rock, AR

Anne Gardner Texas Second Court of Appeals
Fort Worth, TX

Bryan A. Garner LawProse, Inc.
Dallas, TX

Stephen P. Garvey Cornell Law School
Ithaca, NY

Henry L. Garza Bell County District Attorney's Office
Belton, TX

Nancy Gertner Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Hervé Gouraige Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.
Newark, NJ

Michael Greenwald Philadelphia, PA, USA

Betsy J. Grey Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Phoenix, AZ

Charles E. Griffin Butler Snow LLP
Ridgeland, MS

William M. C. Gummow High Court of Australia
Canberra, Australia

James B. Halpern Arent Fox LLP
Washington, DC

Leslie Joan Harris University of Oregon School of Law
Eugene, OR

Micalyn Shafer Harris ADR Services
Ridgewood, NJ

Robert M. Hart Bronxville, NY, USA

Virginia Ellen Hench University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law (Retired)
Honolulu, HI

Ronald K. Henry Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
Washington, DC

Ernest R. Higginbotham UNT Dallas College of Law
Dallas, TX

W. William Hodes The William Hodes Law Firm
Lady Lake, FL

Alan D. Hornstein University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law (Retired)
Baltimore, MD

Steven F. Huefner Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law
Columbus, OH

John A. Humbach Pace University School of Law
White Plains, NY

Richard H. Hunter Hunter & Cole
St Croix, VI

Craig Iscoe Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Washington, DC

Ralph A. Jacobs Jacobs Kivitz & Drake LLC
Philadelphia, PA

Richard Gibbs Johnson Richard G. Johnson Co., L.P.A.
Cleveland, OH

Liza Ilona Karsai Uniform Law Commission
Chicago, IL

Michael Edward Keasler Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Austin, TX

Orin S. Kerr George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Evelyn V. Keyes Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District
Houston, TX

Mark R. Killenbeck University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, AR

Nancy S. Kim California Western School of Law
San Diego, CA

Nancy J. King Vanderbilt University Law School
Nashville, TN

J. David Kirkland, Jr. Baker Botts L.L.P.
Houston, TX

Laird C. Kirkpatrick George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Daniel S. Kleinberger Mendota Heights, MN

Cecelia M. Klingele University of Wisconsin Law School
Madison, WI

Glenn S. Koppel Western State College of Law
Fullerton, CA

Michael J. Kramer Noble Circuit Court
Albion, IN

Bruce N. Kuhlik Washington, DC, USA

Sybil H. Landau New York, NY, USA

Howard Langer Langer Grogan & Diver, P.C.
Philadelphia, PA

William J. Leahy Office of Indigent Legal Services
Albany, NY

Bill Lann Lee Civil Rights Educaton and Enforcement Center
Berkeley, CA

Cynthia K. Lee George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Evan Tsen Lee University of California, Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, CA

Judith Leonard Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC

George W. Liebmann Liebmann & Shively, P.A.
Baltimore, MD

Wayne A. Logan Florida State University College of Law
Tallahassee, FL

Henry R. Lord DLA Piper US LLP
Baltimore, MD

Margaret Colgate Love Law Office of Margaret Love
Washington, DC

Linda A. Malone College of William & Mary School of Law
Williamsburg, VA

C. Scott Maravilla U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
Washington, DC

Richard D. Marks Patient Command, Inc.
Mc Lean, VA

Amie C. Martinez Anderson, Creager & Wittstruck, P.C., LLO
Lincoln, NE

Margaret Penny Mason LeClairRyan
New Haven, CT

Mary Massaron Plunkett Cooney, P.C.
Bloomfield Hills, MI

Alfred D. Mathewson University of New Mexico School of Law
Albuquerque, NM

Judith L. Maute University of Oklahoma College of Law
Norman, OK

David McCord Drake University Law School
Des Moines, IA

Benjamin C. McMurray Utah Federal Defender Office
Salt Lake City, UT

M. Isabel Medina Loyola University, New Orleans School of Law
New Orleans, LA

A. Douglas Melamed Stanford Law School
Stanford, CA

Katherine G. Minarik Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP
Chicago, IL

Natasha Minsker ACLU of California, Center for Advocacy & Policy
Sacramento, CA

S. David Mitchell University of Missouri School of Law
Columbia, MO

Thomas D. Morgan George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Thomas R. Newman Duane Morris LLP
New York, NY

Virginia E. Nolan del Mar, CA, USA

Michael M. O'Hear Marquette University Law School
Milwaukee, WI

John E. Osborn University of Washington School of Law
Seattle, WA

Nancy Leeds Perkins Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
Washington, DC

Ellen S. Podgor Stetson University College of Law
Gulfport, FL

Susan Poser University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

Josephine R. Potuto University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE

Margaret Jane Radin University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI

Gerald S. Reamey St. Mary's University School of Law
San Antonio, TX

Henry R. Reeve Office of the District Attorney Eighteenth Judicial District
Centennial, CO

Christina C. Reiss U.S. District Court, District of Vermont
Burlington, VT

Sarah E. Ricks Rutgers Law School
Camden, NJ

Ira P. Robbins American University, Washington College of Law
Washington, DC

James L. Robertson Wise Carter Child & Caraway, P.A.
Jackson, MS

Margaret Casey Rodgers U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
Pensacola, FL

Theodore O. Rogers, Jr. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
New York, NY

Ronald S. Rolfe Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
New York, NY

Ronald D. Rotunda Chapman University, Dale E. Fowler School of Law
Orange, CA

Howard Ruda Hahn & Hessen
New York, NY

Sabrina R. Safrin Rutgers Law School
Newark, NJ

Stephen A. Saltzburg George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC

Lynn Hecht Schafran Legal Momentum
New York, NY

Paul Schlaud Reeves & Brightwell LLP
Austin, TX

Elizabeth M. Schneider Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY

Milton R. Schroeder Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Phoenix, AZ

Victor E. Schwartz Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Washington, DC

Elizabeth J. Shapiro U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC

Richard W. Shepro Mayer Brown LLP
Chicago, IL

Kami Chavis Simmons Wake Forest University School of Law
Winston Salem, NC

Kenneth W. Simons University of California, Irvine School of Law
Irvine, CA

Virginia E. Sloan The Constitution Project
Washington, DC

Kathleen Smalley Locke Lord LLP
Los Angeles, CA

Bradley Y. Smith Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
New York, NY

Margaret Poles Spencer Circuit Court of City of Richmond
Richmond, VA

Arthur B. Spitzer American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area
Washington, DC

Edwin H. Stern Gibbons P.C.
Newark, NJ

H. Mark Stichel Gohn Hankey Stichel & Berlage, LLP
Baltimore, MD

Kate Stith Yale Law School
New Haven, CT

Mark P. Strasser Capital University Law School
Columbus, OH

Guy Miller Struve Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
New York, NY

Dwight H. Sullivan U.S. Department of Defense
Washington, DC

Mary-Christine Sungaila Haynes and Boone, LLP
Costa Mesa, CA

Stephen Lyle Tatum Cantey Hanger LLP
Fort Worth, TX

Carolyn Engel Temin Philadelphia, PA, USA

Bowen H. Tucker Chicago, IL

Deborah Tuerkheimer Northwestern University School of Law
Chicago, IL

Rachel Van Cleave Golden Gate University School of Law
San Francisco, CA

Michael Vitiello University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
Sacramento, CA

Eugene Volokh University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
Los Angeles, CA

Jay W. Waks American Kennel Club
New York, NY

John L. Warden Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
New York, NY

Thomas D. Waterman Supreme Court of Iowa
Des Moines, IA

Sarah N. Welling University of Kentucky College of Law
Lexington, KY

Marianne Wesson University of Colorado Law School
Boulder, CO

Christina B. Whitman University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI

Robin E. Wosje The Justice Management Institute
Arlington, VA

Ronald F. Wright Wake Forest University School of Law
Winston Salem, NC

Sexual Assault and Related Offenses

This project is re-examining Article 213 of the Model Penal Code, which was ahead of its time when approved by ALI in 1962, but is now outdated and no longer a reliable guide for legislatures and courts.

Status Details

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Meetings

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