Why Due Process Always Matters

[FirstFiveEighth]

In light of the absolute circus surrounding the SCOTUS nomination of Bret Kavanaugh and the fact that despite all evidence to the contrary basically half of America is convinced he got away with rape, I thought it might be insightful to take a look back at the Duke Lacrosse case. I’d encourage y’all to watch the 12min video below but I will summarize what I think are the key takeaways:

Key Takeaways:

• the accusation satisfied several agendas:
  - it appealed to certain views on race relations and diversity on campus
  - the political ambitions of the prosecutor
  - it promoted talk of and the push for more courses on race, class, and gender
  - it fit the assumptions that white male athletes were out of control
• The players were presumed guilty by a mob mentality because it played into these issues
• 88 members of the faculty took out an ad in the paper stating that they believed the accuser and would continue their activism regardless of what the court decided
• these faculty members applauded and encouraged protests in front of the lacrosse players houses demanding they admit their guilt and/or be castrated
• the Times and the media coverage was completely one-sided in favor of the accuser
• the players refusing to take a lie detector test was used as evidence they were guilty
• there was a failure to verify the allegations
• testing the accuser’s claims was seen as basically a second sexual assault on the accuser
• the only evidence presented was that the accuser said it happened and named the members of the lacrosse team

While in the Duke Lacrosse case there ended up being unequivocal evidence that the accuser was lying and the rape as never happened, I think we have seen many of these issues and arguments rise up again in regards to Kavanaugh’s nomination. We are told to believe the accuser with no real evidence. Questioning the account has been labeled as enabling rape culture and that it puts the woman through the assault again. The press has overwhelmingly been one sided, publishing false stories that they could not verify themselves but went ahead with anyways and publishing articles insinuating stuff like because a guy from high school said Kavanaugh was in the “jock group” and allegedly didn’t stop bullying, that he could be guilty if sexual assault. Etc etc.

And while Due Process and presumption of Innocence are legal constructs that apply to a trial, they do come from our culture’s belief that one should be given a fair hearing and that lacking evidence, one is presumed to be innocent. Turning this on its head, whether it is a trial or not, sets a very dangerous precedent and runs counter to our entire framework of justice and social interaction in our culture.

I don’t think I am going to change anyone’s mind here, but if anyone is convinced that Kavanaugh is guilty of sexual assault or gang rape, I’d say maybe take a step back and ask if you believe this because if the evidence, or because of the politics.

PS- sorry I posted this incomplete, I fat-fingered the submit button.

 

[Regular_Atheist]

First of all Kavanaugh isn’t being tried in a court of law.

Secondly testimony from someone involved in the incident is evidence, and in a lot of sexual assault cases it’s the only evidence that is really available. Rape and child sexual abuse is hard to prove, and it’s not uncommon at all for rapists or paedophiles to be convicted based on testimony from the alleged victim alone. I appreciate that Kavanaugh might be innocent, but the idea that there’s"no evidence" isn’t really true.

“Due process” is mostly just a liberal buzzword anyway, a justification for the decisions of the legal system. These decisions are always marred in racial or class bias, and this is no less evident today than it has been through the rest of US history.

 

[Theo520]

Secondly testimony from someone involved in the incident is evidence, and in a lot of sexual assault cases it’s the only evidence that is really available. Rape and child sexual abuse is hard to prove, and it’s not uncommon at all for rapists or paedophiles to be convicted based on testimony from the alleged victim alone. I appreciate that Kavanaugh might be innocent, but the idea that there’s"no evidence" isn’t really true.

Yup, we have evidence from 4 supposed witnesses/participants.

Only one of four can corroborate the story. The other three claim no memory of the incident every happening, at any party in any year.

That’s 3 to 1 that it didn’t happen.