Home > Great American Court Cases > Oregon v. Rideout

Legal Citation: 108,866 Circuit Court, County of Marion Oregon (1978)

Plaintiff
State of Oregon

Defendant
John J. Rideout

Plaintiff's Claim
That the defendant was guilty of first-degree rape.

Chief Lawyer for Plaintiff
Gary D. Gortmaker

Chief Defense Lawyer
Charles Burt

Judge
Richard Barber

Place
Salem, Oregon

Dates of Decision
27 December 1978

Decision
Not guilty.

Significance
For the first time in modern American history, a man faced trial for raping his wife. A national public discussion of the issue followed questioning whether a man had an absolute sexual right to his spouse's—or cohabitant's—body. Two other states besides Oregon had passed laws that did not grant married (or cohabitating) men immunity from the rape of their wives—and New...