A Question of Consent: Innocence and Complicity in the Glen Ridge Rape Case

by Peter Laufer

Recounts the 1993 case of four teenagers from an upper-middle-class New Jersey town who were accused of raping a mentally retarded girl, arguing that it exposed the sexism, racism, and discrimination against the handicapped underlying American society.

Genres: True Crime

230 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

Peter Laufer, Ph.D., is the author of more than a dozen books that deal with social and political issues, including "Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq," "Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border," and "Iron Curtain Rising: A Personal Journey through the Changing Landscape of Eastern Eurpoe." He is the coanchor of "The Peter Laufer Show" on radio station Green 960 in San Francisco. More about his books, documentary films, broadcasts, which have won the George Polk, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward R. Murrow, and other awards, can be found at peterlaufer.com. He lives in Bodega Bay, California.

Reviews

[Patrick Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was disturbing. The true story and court room drama of the crime and trial of raping a mentally challenged teenager, with the IQ of a 7 year old. The crime was horrendous, the trial was disturbing, the reaction of most of the town was appalling.

To actually know that things like this go on is hard enough to fathom, to read about it and read the testimony of the girl, the perpetrators, the parents, the teachers, the police, everyone around is, again, disturbing. The defense attorney's game plan was ridiculous and, of course, failed, thankfully.

The aspects of peer pressure and mob mentality wreak havoc on humans, especially teenagers and this also shows the repercussions of what can happen if you don't think for yourself.

Even though the crime was disturbing and reading it was hard at times it was an interesting true life crime book that looked into many avenues of the crime.