Reviewing basic sex offense provision in Ohio (and why you should be glad it won't be on the final)

As I mentioned last week and as we will keep exploring this coming week, modern sex offense doctrines can become quite intricate in efforts to properly categorize and criminalize a range of sexual misconduct (and also to keep up to date with modern norms and beliefs).  We will not look closely at the Model Penal Code's sex offense provisions because the original ones are widely seen as dated and on-going revisions are quite intricate. 

The great people of the great state of Oliwood are excited that a new "Aggravated Rape" statute and a new "Campus Conduct" policy are being drafted for legislative consideration in coming days.  Perhaps it could be helpful to those drafting these provisions to see how Ohio statute are constructed.  Here is how Ohio's Rape provision is currently written (with a few points bolding for in-class discussion):

Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.02 Rape:

(A)(1) No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another who is not the spouse of the offender or who is the spouse of the offender but is living separate and apart from the offender, when any of the following applies:

(a) For the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender substantially impairs the other person's judgment or control by administering any drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception.

(b) The other person is less than thirteen years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of the other person.

(c) The other person's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age, and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age.

(2) No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force.

(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of rape, a felony of the first degree.  If the offender under division (A)(1)(a) of this section substantially impairs the other person's judgment or control by administering any controlled substance, as defined in section 3719.01 of the Revised Code, to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception, the prison term imposed upon the offender shall be one of the definite prison terms prescribed for a felony of the first degree in division (A)(1)(b) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code that is not less than five years, except that if the violation is committed on or after March 22, 2019, the court shall impose as the minimum prison term for the offense a mandatory prison term that is one of the minimum terms prescribed for a felony of the first degree in division (A)(1)(a) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code that is not less than five years.  Except as otherwise provided in this division, notwithstanding sections 2929.11 to 2929.14 of the Revised Code, an offender under division (A)(1)(b) of this section shall be sentenced to a prison term or term of life imprisonment pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code.  If an offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (A)(1)(b) of this section, if the offender was less than sixteen years of age at the time the offender committed the violation of that division, and if the offender during or immediately after the commission of the offense did not cause serious physical harm to the victim, the victim was ten years of age or older at the time of the commission of the violation, and the offender has not previously been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of this section or a substantially similar existing or former law of this state, another state, or the United States, the court shall not sentence the offender to a prison term or term of life imprisonment pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, and instead the court shall sentence the offender as otherwise provided in this division.  If an offender under division (A)(1)(b) of this section previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to violating division (A)(1)(b) of this section or to violating an existing or former law of this state, another state, or the United States that is substantially similar to division (A)(1)(b) of this section, if the offender during or immediately after the commission of the offense caused serious physical harm to the victim, or if the victim under division (A)(1)(b) of this section is less than ten years of age, in lieu of sentencing the offender to a prison term or term of life imprisonment pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, except as otherwise provided in this division, the court may impose upon the offender a term of life without parole. If the court imposes a term of life without parole pursuant to this division, division (F) of section 2971.03 of the Revised Code applies, and the offender automatically is classified a tier III sex offender/child-victim offender, as described in that division.  A court shall not impose a term of life without parole on an offender for rape if the offender was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offense.

(C) A victim need not prove physical resistance to the offender in prosecutions under this section.

(D) Evidence of specific instances of the victim's sexual activity, opinion evidence of the victim's sexual activity, and reputation evidence of the victim's sexual activity shall not be admitted under this section unless it involves evidence of the origin of semen, pregnancy, or disease, or the victim's past sexual activity with the offender, and only to the extent that the court finds that the evidence is material to a fact at issue in the case and that its inflammatory or prejudicial nature does not outweigh its probative value.

Evidence of specific instances of the defendant's sexual activity, opinion evidence of the defendant's sexual activity, and reputation evidence of the defendant's sexual activity shall not be admitted under this section unless it involves evidence of the origin of semen, pregnancy, or disease, the defendant's past sexual activity with the victim, or is admissible against the defendant under section 2945.59 of the Revised Code, and only to the extent that the court finds that the evidence is material to a fact at issue in the case and that its inflammatory or prejudicial nature does not outweigh its probative value.

(E) Prior to taking testimony or receiving evidence of any sexual activity of the victim or the defendant in a proceeding under this section, the court shall resolve the admissibility of the proposed evidence in a hearing in chambers, which shall be held at or before preliminary hearing and not less than three days before trial, or for good cause shown during the trial.

(F) Upon approval by the court, the victim may be represented by counsel in any hearing in chambers or other proceeding to resolve the admissibility of evidence.  If the victim is indigent or otherwise is unable to obtain the services of counsel, the court, upon request, may appoint counsel to represent the victim without cost to the victim.

(G) It is not a defense to a charge under division (A)(2) of this section that the offender and the victim were married or were cohabiting at the time of the commission of the offense.

Here are some other major Ohio sex offense provisions, with the last one partially reprinted to perhaps aid the drafting of an Oliwood Campus Conduct policy:

ORC 2907.03 Sexual battery.

ORC 2907.04 Unlawful sexual conduct with minor.

ORC 2907.05 Gross sexual imposition.

ORC 2907.06 Sexual imposition:

(A) No person shall have sexual contact with another, not the spouse of the offender; cause another, not the spouse of the offender, to have sexual contact with the offender; or cause two or more other persons to have sexual contact when any of the following applies:

(1) The offender knows that the sexual contact is offensive to the other person, or one of the other persons, or is reckless in that regard.

(2) The offender knows that the other person's, or one of the other person's, ability to appraise the nature of or control the offender's or touching person's conduct is substantially impaired.

(3) The offender knows that the other person, or one of the other persons, submits because of being unaware of the sexual contact.

As I mentioned last week and as I will keep repeating this coming week, I will not be testing on any of this doctrine on the final exam!  The goal with this unit is not to work through and understand intricately all of these doctrinal particulars, but rather to explore how and why the law becomes so very intricate in this setting and the broader challenges of effective legislative drafting in this setting and others.