Sunday, April 26, 2015

If Rape Is So Bad, Why Do You *Not* Want The Legal Process Involved?

Lefties prefer these university kangaroo courts to actual courts because "niceties" like due process and evidence aren't required in the sham courts:

Vice President Joe Biden was in Illinois today talking about campus sexual assault. I agreed with almost everything he said. Why? Because he was discussing things that no one except the worst among us could disagree with.

Having sex with a woman who is passed out is rape. Of course. Beating a woman is wrong. Of course. Rapists should go to jail. Of course.

What Biden didn't discuss was that the issue of campus sexual assault isn't as simple as he makes it seem. The black and white examples he gave are not the norm on college campuses. There is no "discussion," as Biden claimed, about whether it's rape when a woman is passed out.

Where the discussion lies is in he said/she said situations where there's evidence and witnesses that say she was not passed out or incapacitated, and where the accuser appeared to be a willing participant until months after the encounter...

Biden also said that campus rapists shouldn't just be facing expulsion, but "should go to jail." Absolutely. The problem is that if expulsion and jail are possibilities, as they are with crimes, then both accusers and accused should have due process rights. But that might cut down on the number of students suspended or expelled, as evidence and the presumption of innocence are less valued in disciplinary hearings than accusations are.


The legal process goes both ways:

The Columbia University student being called a rapist by members of the media and a woman who has been carrying her mattress around for performance art is suing.

Paul Nungesser was accused by fellow Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz of brutally beating and raping her during a sexual encounter he insists was consensual. Despite a police investigation that failed to charge Nungesser and the university finding him "not responsible," Sulkowicz and her enablers — including Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have continued to harass Nungesser by calling him a "rapist."

Now, Nungesser is suing his university, its president and trustees and the visual arts professor that allowed the mattress project to go forward.

Nungesser and his attorneys, Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP, allege that the university was complicit in allowing the harassment to commence, which "significantly damaged, if not effectively destroyed Paul Nungesser's college experience, his reputation, his emotional well-being and his future career prospects."

We'll see how the legal process works on this side of the equation, but I certainly hope he wins. 

3 comments:

maxutils said...

Should have scrolled down befor my last post, above. Yes, absolutely. The college has no criminal authority; expulsion should occur AFTER a conviction, not before. And I'm sorry … but after just having tried to help a woman ho has been beaten for over a year now, who I have consistently told to call the police? When I called myself, she lied about the abuse, and got pissed at me -- and I understand that that's rampant -- I am not enthusiastic about softer means. If you are woman who has been harassed, abused, or raped -- you owe it to yourself and other women to press charges. And if you won't do that? I'm afraid we can't help you.

Ellen K said...

Here's something that isn't often discussed-what about same sex sexual assault. It is more often discussed in regards to males, but it happens to females too. In some women's universities the term LUG has significance.

maxutils said...

I get your point with the headkine of your post … but, I'm not sure you win any points by stating "IF rape is so bad…" Could we please just stipulate to the fact that rape is very, very bad? It's really not a debating point. Otherwise, I agree with the post. But it bothers me every time I see the headline...