24 Reflections on Peter Tiersma’s “The Language and Consent in Rape Law” Gregory M. Matoesian Peter Tiersma, either solely or with his longtime collaborator Larry Solan, has written extensively on some of the most crucial issues in the field of language and law, or what we now call forensic linguistics. . . . Read more

23 Felicitous Consent Tim Grant and Kerrie Spaul Within the volume The Language of Sexual Crime (2007) edited by Janet Cotterill, Peter Tiersma published a thoughtful paper, The Language of Consent in Rape Law, focusing on the nature of consent in the context of rape and sexual crime. His paper . . . Read more

21 The Language of Consent in Rape Law* Peter M. Tiersma Perhaps the most important feature of the word consent is that it describes a state of mind. It is not primarily a performative verb. Of course, it is possible to consent by saying “I consent.” So it might be . . . Read more