There's Little Closer To The Salem Witch Trials Than Campus Kangaroo Courts For Sexual Assault Accusations
A decade ago, I would have thought my own headline above to be outrageous hyperbole.
Sadly, it's become real life for those men on campus unlucky enough to have sex with a woman who decides to accuse them of sexual assault afterward.
Now, rape, of course, does happen, and I believe those accusations should be investigated, and if there's a preponderance of evidence that they occurred, they should be prosecuted. However, this should be done by the legal system, not by a kangaroo court operating on a "guilty unless proven innocent" model, as is called for on campuses by Title IX. Or rather, the abuse of Title IX by the Obama administration.
Suddenly, what was supposed to get space for girls' soccer in high school is being used as a bludgeon to ruin the lives of men.
And with the abusive standard of "evidence," the campus kangaroo court proceeding for sexual assault really does compare to the Salem Witch Trials, in which a mere accusation was enough to deem people (mostly women) witches and take their lives from them.
And no, there's no hanging in the campus diag, but men's lives -- the lives they might have had pre-accusation and expulsion -- are being taken from them simply because a woman points the finger at them. As the sexual assault system is now set up on campus, per the Obama administration, there's no real chance for a man to defend himself.
This is how an Amherst man was expelled from school for sexual assault -- in a case where he was passed out drunk, given a blow job by a woman while unconscious, and said to have had nonconsensual sex with her...while unconscious. Yes, even the most absurd accusations stand under this system.
There's a letter in the Michigan State Newspaper from a woman whose male partner went through this -- and had his life ruined by it.
Some excerpts:
Several days ago, you chose to dismiss my partner from MSU based on a false allegation of sexual misconduct. The investigation leading up to this decision took over a year - 429 days, and for months my partner and I were fraught with anxiety over your decision.Now that your decision has been made, I am devastated and my life has been turned upside-down. MSU has committed a great injustice by continuing to pursue an allegation despite no credible evidence, despite months and months of insistence of innocence, despite our proving time and time again that the university has mistreated my partner, despite your own admittance that procedural errors had occurred, despite the fact my partner was never given a chance at a hearing, and despite the fact that the claimant themselves performed sexual acts on my partner without my partner's consent.
I should not, however, be surprised. The investigation by the OCR found a number of issues in MSU's process that have contributed to a false finding of guilt in the case of my partner. Most alarming to me was the claim MSU made to OCR that they "have not yet had a case where the administrator or hearing board believed that the respondent met his or her burden of proof" within the context of an appeal, which either indicates that every single respondent at MSU has indeed been guilty of the allegations against them, or that this university simply does not provide fair procedures to allow for respondents to actually prove they are innocent. Given my experiences with the process, it is almost certainly the latter option.
...This was extremely dangerous advice, and I fear for what may have happened if I were not around to support my partner and help them deal with the emotions this investigation has caused them to experience. Given the cost associated with outside counseling services, as well as my partner's equal right as a student to take advantage of university resources, I continue to find Mr. Shafer's advice to be horribly damaging.
...As a feminist, I am often critical of men who suggest the possibility of "reverse sexism" and I do still believe that it does not actually exist. However, gender discrimination in this context is a very real issue. Too often I hear stories about alleged assaults where both parties were heavily intoxicated, but one party (typically female) reports the incident as an assault, though it could very reasonably be argued that she had been the assailant because of the state of intoxication of both parties.
This bias stems from an antiquated notion of what it means to have sex, wherein a man receives sex from a woman. We still believe sex is a transaction, with one party gaining something and the other party losing. In this case, my partner engaged in mutually consensual and sober intercourse with the claimant and was assaulted by the claimant, but responsibility lies with my partner because of their gender. That is simply horrifying.
I write to you because I am disgusted by the way this university treats its students who are pleading for a chance to speak. I write to you because I am no longer comfortable with being silent in the face of injustice. I write to you because this system that is supposedly designed to be fair and "fact-finding" picks and chooses which facts to consider in order to find innocent people guilty. I write to you because this case has taught me that gender discrimination does exist. I write to you because I still do not believe this university should expel innocent students on nothing more than the words of another student without being given the chance to speak in person to defend themselves.
By the way, the Wash Ex's Ashe Schow reports that the editor of the paper vetted the woman and saw the documents from the university about the case.
via @instapundit
Get a feminist majority on the SCOTUS and someday real rape trials will work like the campus ones do.
dee nile at January 15, 2016 6:25 AM
A witch? bind them hand and foot, throw them in the river.
If they float, they're a witch, take 'em out and burn 'em at the stake.
If they sink, they're innocent. Too bad about the whole drowning thing, but it can't be helped...
I R A Darth Aggie at January 15, 2016 7:00 AM
That said, this student should be filing a Title IX claim against MSU, as well as a civil rights case.
Make them live by their own rules. Punch back twice as hard.
I R A Darth Aggie at January 15, 2016 7:01 AM
I R A
Men can't be raped, instead they should be grateful someone took interest in them. Hmm.. That sounds like a Guardian or a Salon headline.
Sixclaws at January 15, 2016 7:56 AM
That fourth paragraph of the excerpt leaves out a critical detail, which is why the paragraph seems to be off topic. The detail is this: The accused man was feeling suicidal and went to the university for help. Someone in the center looked him up in a database, saw that he had a sexual accusation against him, and based on that denied him access to counseling services. Apparently it is university policy to deny accused men any access to the university's medical services even in an emergency. More from an article in the Washington Examiner here.
Cousin Dave at January 15, 2016 8:12 AM
Can you imagine the case the accused male student's parents would have had against MSU if he had indeed committed suicide? The liability MSU took on itself by not allowing him equal access is huge.
spqr2008 at January 15, 2016 8:39 AM
So, just to be clear, according to this woman the reason her boyfriend was expelled for getting an unwanted blowjob while he was passed out drunk isnt sexism against men, but sexism against women?
Bitch, convoluted reasoning like that make YOU part of the problem.
$20 bucks says if it wasnt her boyfriend she wouldnt have given a shit
lujlp at January 15, 2016 8:47 AM
That sounds like a Guardian or a Salon headline.
Heh. Maybe I can get a job with them as a headline writer. Not a high bar, mind you. My flow would be "Ok, what's the story about. What is the most ridiculous a headline The Onion would write. Now, how can I go even further into the weeds?"
The poor guy at Amherst was sexually assaulted. By definition. He was unable to give consent - or anything else, for that matter. Yet, if his flag flies it's consent?
I R A Darth Aggie at January 15, 2016 8:51 AM
Also what does it say about her that when she first heard her boyfriend, the person she loved, was accused of rape she belived it without hesitation?
lujlp at January 15, 2016 9:00 AM
I R A
From the looks of it, the victim is the one who complains to the authority first.
Sixclaws at January 15, 2016 9:11 AM
The key word is "nonconsensual." Once it's nonconsensual, it's his fault.
That he was the nonconsensual party is immaterial. Don't you know anything about conducting a witch trial?
Political correctness has gotten out of hand.
The knots this writer ties herself into in order to avoid using a gender-specific pronoun are worthy of a Cirque du Soleil show.
English, despite its German influence, does not have a gender-neutral singular pronoun.
"Them" is a plural pronoun, indicating more than one person, not a gender-neutral singular pronoun. It sounds awkward and ignorant to use it as such.
Conan the Grammarian at January 15, 2016 9:23 AM
Ah, yes, Sixclaws.
I have advocated, and would tell any young man on a college campus to put their Title IX administrator in the speed dial. And to then complain early and often, particularly at the barest whiff of a potential problem.
Since these administrators are acting like little Stalins, their would be victims need to adopt the tactics of the refuseniks, and choke the system with complaints. Because like any good bureaucracy, they have a process and it must be followed to the letter. And documented.
A classmate touches you without affirmative consent? file a complaint. Do they speak to you harshly, and deny you a "safe space"? file a complaint.
Sure, after a while, no woman on campus will come near you. Mission accomplished!
I R A Darth Aggie at January 15, 2016 9:32 AM
I'm still waiting for this to become a Mom issue - like MADD. Once they throw down, the fight is on.
Canvasback at January 15, 2016 9:39 AM
I'm still waiting for this to become a Mom issue
Why would it? The generation of boys getting expelled were raised by a generation of women who hate everything male.
They doped their toddlers with ADD meds to keep em quiet. They told their teenage sons the exact way to behave that ensured any woman would dry up upon experiencing their behavior. They spent all of their childs lives running down their father for every little thing.
Now this isnt to say every woman did this, but as a generation, these women despise their sons
lujlp at January 15, 2016 10:17 AM
Advice to college-age males: Do not date female students in your college. Off campus pussy is just as good as on campus pussy.
Nick at January 15, 2016 10:44 AM
Only a matter of time before the college broadens its guidelines to include encounters with non-students.
Conan the Grammarian at January 15, 2016 11:00 AM
I R A, Nick.
Funny, I keep on telling them to learn to enjoy gay sex. The best part is that they don't have to reciprocate though; after all, there is a severe lack of tops within the gay community.
Sixclaws at January 15, 2016 11:12 AM
The letter writer wrote: "My own life continues to be severely impacted by the investigation and the decision you made, as anything I participate in on campus now feels worthless if my partner cannot experience it with me. I worry about seeing the claimant on campus. I have so far only seen them once, but I nearly collapsed onto the sidewalk as I was struck by a panic attack that left my legs weak and my head dizzy. It took me several hours to recover from the incident and I now avoid the area in which I saw them."
Oh please! Give me a break! The whole lot of them are a bunch of psychological basket cases.
In her world the status of victimhood is so prestigious, that instead of outright calling the false accuser an evil, lying bitch and clearly saying why it's so, her strategy is to outmaneuver the bitch by claiming to have suffered even greater emotional trauma, and thus prevail by positioning herself as an even greater victim.
Ken R at January 15, 2016 11:22 AM
Rosa Parks was selected to be the "criminal" to bring about change.
Perhaps it's time to find out where the sons of NOW and other organizations are going to college and bring the fight to them.
Get 'em drunk. Give them a blow. Say they "raped". Make it public. Cry a lot. (mattress optional)
Bob in Texas at January 15, 2016 11:56 AM
"...her strategy is to outmaneuver the bitch by claiming to have suffered even greater emotional trauma,..."
That's the way the game has to be played these days. But note what is happening here: the contest, the struggle, the part that everyone cares about, is between the two women. The man in the case is faceless, nameless and voiceless; he is simply a piece to be moved around the chessboard.
And yeah, given that "Outraged Student" seems to support the principles of post-modern feminism generally, her case comes out looking a lot less like a moral absolute and a lot more like special pleading. I will give her the benefit of the doubt and speculate that she had to pay lip service to feminism in order to get her letter published. And although she hasn't made the connection yet, she does appear to have stumbled upon the meta-Victorianism in feminism's attitude towards heterosexual sex, which states that every time a woman has sex with a man, no matter what the circumstances, she loses a piece of her virtue and gains nothing in return. Don't fall for the myth of "sex-positive feminism". By feminism's own definitions, it cannot exist.
Cousin Dave at January 15, 2016 12:00 PM
Such is the way lawsuits are won. And, because of that, it's the way we fight now, "you hurt me more." Who wants a moral victory when cash or sympathy can be had?
Conan the Grammarian at January 15, 2016 12:05 PM
This is the key phrase:
"this university simply does not provide fair procedures to allow for respondents to actually prove they are innocent."
In the American judicial system you do not need to prove yourself innocent. The prosecution, on behalf of the accuser, must prove your guilt - and in the criminal justice system the bar of "proof" is adequately high.
It's worth restating over and over and over: the burden of proof is *not* on the accused. Ever, ever, ever. This is a line worth holding.
JK at January 15, 2016 12:08 PM
This guy has been lynched by the Obama administration - the first radically feminist presidential administration in history -- and I feel for him.
As for the feminist letter writer -- who still can't believe in "reverse sexism" -- I bathe in her tears, and her suffering gives me joy. Perhaps the agony will lead the scales to fall from her eyes, and the shackles from her mind.
Jay R at January 15, 2016 12:20 PM
This is how an Amherst man was expelled from school for sexual assault -- in a case where he was passed out drunk, given a blow job by a woman while unconscious, and said to have had nonconsensual sex with her...while unconscious. Yes, even the most absurd accusations stand under this system.
He was passed out drunk and still able to get it up?
Ah, to be young again.
Steve Danielss at January 15, 2016 12:42 PM
"Men can't be raped, instead they should be grateful someone took interest in them. Hmm.. That sounds like a Guardian or a Salon headline."
It sounds like a lot of Second Wave feminists. It's the real rape culture. The one the SJWs are always labiating about is nothing but a Big Lie.
Jim at January 15, 2016 1:19 PM
After experiencing a false accusation, this guy is dating an avowed, ideologically-driven feminist - ?
Normally I'd say something about avenues for legal recourse against the university, but he's too dumb to bother aiding. Evidently, nothing can stop him from destroying himself.
Lastango at January 15, 2016 5:51 PM
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