The William A. Percy Foundation is happy to post guest opinions or reviews of notable books on topics of sexual diversity, rights, law, and history written by qualified scholars, activists, or those who have had contact with the criminal justice system. We offer the option of publishing these writings anonymously as we welcome entries from former incarcerated persons who are legitimately concerned about being targeted by probation or parole officers – as well as submissions representing critical voices among those working within the carceral establishment. These essays – offered in the spirit of sparking discussion – reflect only the views of their authors and not necessarily the opinions or positions of the Percy Foundation or its Board of Directors. If you have a guest editorial, essay, or book review, please send it for consideration by e-mail to tkh@wapercyfoundation.org or by mail to our Chico, California, address.
Judith Butler remains one of the most consequential figures in contemporary critical theory, whose work on performativity, subject formation, and relational vulnerability has profoundly reshaped modern debates on gender, identity, and power. In this essay, titled Butler and the Problem of Consent submitted by Quincy Briar, the author situates Butler’s reflections on sexual consent within the broader architecture of their philosophical project, tracing how Butler’s critique of the autonomous liberal subject complicates conventional legal models of consent. Drawing on Butler’s writings alongside earlier feminist debates involving figures such as Kate Millett, Andrea Dworkin, and Gayle Rubin, the article offers a careful examination of how consent, vulnerability, and social norms intersect within the regulation of sexuality. The Percy Foundation is pleased to present this thoughtful contribution to our audience.
Gerald Jones, Ph.D.’s guest editorial, “’Til Somebody Loves You,” argues that many American boys are struggling not because of material hardship, but because they lack consistent, visible, everyday male role models and mentors during the most formative years of identity development. He emphasizes that boys don’t just need structure (school, sports, discipline); they need genuine care, adults who take a personal interest in listening, guiding, and helping them imagine a meaningful place for themselves in society.
What Is Minnesota’s Psychopathic Personality Law? What if the government could lock you up forever? Not for a crime. Not for an illness a doctor could diagnose, but because lawmakers invented a label that said you were dangerous. This is the story of Minnesota’s “Psychopathic Personality” law. For decades it has allowed people who already served their prison sentences to be confined again. They are told it is for “treatment,” even when no treatment exists. In truth, it is a system of preventive detention. The danger is bigger than one state. If politicians can create new “illnesses” to justify locking people away, who will be next? Dissidents? Outsiders? Anyone who does not fit the mold? We have to ask: Can we stop this before it spreads further? Or will fear and politics keep building systems that take freedom with no end in sight?
The fight against laws like this is not only about Minnesota. It is about what defines justice and how far government power should reach. These laws show how quickly freedom can fade when fear takes its place. Few people understand this better than Cyrus Gladden, an attorney living inside Minnesota’s “shadow prison.” In his newsletter, The Legal Pad, Cyrus writes with courage about what the law looks like from the inside. His voice reminds us that fairness and accountability belong to everyone, even to those society chooses to forget. Read the full law review article here and see why this issue matters now more than ever.
What does it say about a nation’s moral compass when baiting, harassing, and often assaulting unsuspecting people becomes both a form of entertainment and a display of one’s own virtue? Sandy Rozek, communications director of NARSOL, raises this question in this short article on the rise of online predation by Chris Hansen copycats: The New Vigilantism.
Discussions regarding the personal decisions of young people typically try to balance protectionist and libertarian concerns. Yet for the sole issue of gender transitioning, the deeper questions of consent and risk are often chalked off the purview of ultraconservative obstructionists. Read this short editorial for an alternative perspective on whether the current protocols for gender clinics represent the wisest approach.
This November, two heavyweight champions in fear mongering will battle it out for the Oval Office. How do Harris and Trump compare on issues of sexual politics, and who will be the primary casualties in this theomachy? Find out here.
Comprehensive sex education—sex education that provides young people with the information they need to make healthy decisions—has a direct impact on reduced rates of teen pregancy and STD contraction. Does comprehensive sex education also play a role in protecting young people from sexual violence and abuse? Read this short article for some evidence in the affirmative. Comprehensive Sex Education as Sexual Violence/Abuse Prevention? – Some Findings.
Two claims which can be decisively made about today’s teens and young adults – singling out this birth cohort from the ones that came before: Young people today are experiencing significantly higher rates of unhappiness and mental illness, and they are also exhibiting a unique lack of sexual activity. Read a provocative deep dive into the reasons: Why Are Young People So Unhappy? – Mental Health, Sexual Development, Loss of Autonomy.
Downstate is a play about a day in the life of four men living in a halfway house, each with a conviction for a sex offense involving minors. Yet Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Bruce Norris has won rave reviews questioning ‘What is too much?’ when it comes to punishing these crimes. Is Downstate an inflection point in public discourse about criminal justice? Click here for a review.
The Significance of Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court – Her historical importance is not only as the first African-American woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, but as the only current member of the court with a background in criminal justice at a time when both expert opinion and public sentiment demand a fundamental reconsideration of inequities in the administration of criminal justice and the heavy social costs of prolonged mass incarceration.
The argument for legalizing prostitution – In the U.S., there are serious problems with rape and with sex trafficking, where persons are forced to engage in sex against their will. At the same time, with the criminalization of sex work, many non-violent persons are arrested and placed in prison for many years. This contributes to high rates of incarceration, huge prison budgets that are a waste of taxpayer dollars, and many destroyed and wasted lives. All of these factors combine to make the rate of sexually-transmitted infections higher than in any other economically advanced nation.
The Sexual Politics of Huxley’s Brave New World & Orwell’s 1984 – What surprising things do the classic 20th-century dystopian novels Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) and 1984 (George Orwell) have to say about sexual regulation in the West today? Here’s a compilation of quotations and scenes from these works that show the centrality of sexual control to these imaginings of life without freedom.
Learning from History: Lessons for activism today – The GLBT movement has been one of the most successful social movements in the West in recent generations. Yet the struggle to fight sexual injustices and hysterias – now in new guises – seems greater than ever. Learning from the paths taken by the gay activists – especially from a time when the movement’s later success was but a gleam in the eye of a generation unborn – is a good place to start.
Reflections on a public lynching – A former Federal prisoner reflects on a “reality TV” portrayal of an attempted murder of a prisoner, as a guard and reporters stand by and do nothing.
Voluntary sexual relations among prisoners: One prisoner’s experiences – The joys, risks, and paradoxes of sex among prisoners are presented in this fascinating account of one man’s experiences in range of U.S. federal institutions.
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Law (ACSOL) is one of the most dynamic organizations working to fight Apartheid-style registries and gulag archipelago of civil commitment – and the oversize contribution irrational and vengeful sex laws make generally to the American carceral state. Here’s a detailed report on their third annual conference, held in June 2019 in Los Angeles at Southwestern Law School.
The Pedophile as a Folk Devil – In an essay published on OpEdNews.com in September 2019, James Hunter explores the panic and demonization behind the suicide of 16-year-old Illinois high school student Cory Walgren – accused of producing “child porn” after consensually recording intimacy with his girlfriend.
Judith Butler’s new book, The Force of Nonviolence 
(Verso, 2020) prompted a number of interviews with the author – among them, in the New Yorker and The Nation. Here is one reader’s reply to the latter interview in particular, discussing Butler’s contributions to approaches to sexuality and their relation to the entrenched violence she sees institutionalized in America’s carceral state.