Unequal Protection: Women, Children, and the Elderly in Court

Although many agencies exist to serve the welfare of women, children and the elderly, retired Philadelphia adult criminal judge Forer ( Money and Justice ) here contends that the legal rights of these constituents are actually ill protected. Tracing gender and age bias to discriminatory English common law, the author vididly portrays victims of cases where judgment, she argues, went awry even in following the letter of the law. Among them: a sexually abused child too terrified to identify her molester; an indigent young divorcee unfairly deprived of custody of her only child; and two elderly women raped by a prematurely paroled psychotic. Rather than proposing piecemeal amendments and statutes, Forer's compelling plea calls for judicial reform based on a broad concept of equality that protects the rights of all members in an ever more diverse American society. (Mar.)