A Woman Exercising Seriously Bad Judgment And Men Being Guilty Of Rape Are Two Different Things
Any civilized person wants rapists and other criminals prosecuted -- and punished -- to the full extent of the law.
But to truly be civilized is to also want to take great care about whom we punish -- to see that we don't punish people whose guilt has not been proved. "Due process" -- "the legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person" -- is the cornerstone of treating accused people fairly.
This includes being considered "innocent til proven guilty" -- which means that we don't lock people up based on others' strong feelings. We require strong evidence.
And this is what a coach at the University of Minnesota is standing up for -- standing up for the due process rights of 10 black players, in the face of the abusive application of Title IX and the lowered standards of evidence that come with.
Jillian Kay Melchior writes in the New York Post:
Coach Tracy Claeys committed the heresy of questioning whether UMinn's Title IX adjudication denied his players due process, and supposedly enlightened liberal activists now want him charred at the stake for it.The controversy began earlier this past fall, when several football players and one female student had a pervy sexual encounter the night after the Gophers beat Oregon State. An 82-page report by the university's Title IX office leaves no question that these men treated the young woman with cringeworthy disrespect and acted with a profound lack of wisdom.
But there's a legal difference between an orgy and a gang-rape.
Part of the sexual encounter was taped, and police who reviewed it described the alleged victim as "lucid, alert, somewhat playful and fully conscious," adding that she appeared a consenting participant. The Hennepin County Attorney's office didn't press charges, citing insufficient evidence.
Absent proof of guilt, the football players involved remained innocent in the eyes of the law.
Not so at the University of Minnesota.
In its own report, the university's Title IX office admitted that to discipline the 10 football players, it had only to conclude that "it is more likely than not that an alleged sexual assault or harassment occurred." The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education puts it slightly differently: The university must "be only 50.01 percent certain when determining whether a student committed an offense."
Based on that meager standard, the University of Minnesota named, shamed and suspended 10 football players.
Again, if there is evidence -- by the standards of our legal system -- that these men committed rape, they should be prosecuted and punished.
However, we need to stop the utterly unjust treatment of men on campus through the Obama administration's Title IX requirements and its lesser standards of evidence. As Melchior writes:
All survivors of sexual assault deserve to have their case examined by trained investigators and prosecuted under the full force of the law. Campus adjudication puts victims' privacy at risk and subjects their trauma to an amateur probe.
via @CHSommers
Amy, c'mon! Don't you know? Women cannot possibly desire the beastly attention of even a single tremendously-fit, unapologetic male, much less several of them! If a woman appears to express such desire, she must be drugged or otherwise mentally incompetent, and by definition a victim. Needing an advocate. Several advocates. On the payroll, full-time.
And their function can be shifted from the participants to those other students who are belittled by being less attractive and feel "left out".
Radwaste at January 4, 2017 4:16 AM
I've done some dumb things in my time, but they're on me.
Amy Alkon at January 4, 2017 5:20 AM
Perhaps the racial aspect is not relevant here, but it seems like a disproportionate number of black men are accused of sexual assault on campus. I'm reminded of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Carey at January 4, 2017 5:23 AM
The liberal activists got their wish - Claeys was fired yesterday. KSTP quotes his response thusly: "I won't be up here freezing my ass off, so y'all enjoy the winter."
Can't overstate the importance of seeing the investigation through. I'm reminded of a September 2009 incident at Hofstra University (that I was attending at the time) in which a female freshman alleged a gang rape. Media descended on the campus, and the one accused man who was a student was barred from campus, disrupting his studies. Within a few days, she confessed to making up the allegations - she had engaged in consensual activity with several men and was embarrassed about it. I believe she did plead guilty to a count of filing a false report.
It very much remains to be seen if OCR will take a new direction in the new administration, given that Betsy DeVos has no experience in higher education.
Matt at January 4, 2017 6:16 AM
Don't forget that to many "Jackie" of UVa fame is a "victim".
This fact alone indicates an unbelievable amount of bias/hatred towards the male species. It's a shame that these people are in charge of the process of reviewing sexual complaints.
Bob in Texas at January 4, 2017 6:17 AM
That's not even the whole story. When the football team threatened to boycott the Holiday Bowl (read: $$$), the school told the team that it would hold the suspensions in abeyance and that the players would get a new hearing. Now that the bowl game has passed (it was December 27) and the school has received its cut of the revenue, it has gone back on its word and re-imposed the suspensions. The players won't get a new hearing, and most likely the coach will be fired.
Cousin Dave at January 4, 2017 6:25 AM
If a woman appears to express such desire, she must be drugged or otherwise mentally incompetent, and by definition a victim.
And don't you dare slut shame her. A lady is both mentally incompetent to make choices on her sexuality and completely free to explore the boundaries of her sexuality, all without any negative consequences to her. And depending on the situation, if you notice the inconsistencies you are either rape apologist or slut shamer or both at the same time.
Shtetl G at January 4, 2017 6:56 AM
On the one hand, i understand the university needs its players to uphold a standard of conduct and treatment of the university's female students.
On the other hand, if a young woman agrees to have sex with a male college student and his friends, he's likely to take her up on the offer - for the sex as well as the excitement and the story he can tell his buddies later, not to mention so he won't be branded a wuss.
In the University of Minnesota case, the police review of the video taken of the event indicated the young woman was lucid, competent, unrestrained, and a fully-engaged and willing participant in the activity.
To militant feminists who hold that "all sex is rape," any group sexual activity involving more men than women cannot be consensual, by definition.
Conan the Grammarian at January 4, 2017 7:57 AM
Minnesota is a very white state. The players are not.
http://www.twincities.com/2016/12/30/deplorable-behavior-but-no-charges-in-gopher-football-sex-assault-allegations-prosecutors-say/
KateC at January 4, 2017 8:51 AM
Reading the U's report, this doesn't sound fun or lighthearted. It might not be rape-rape (to quote Whoopie ) and the victim could use assertiveness and self-defense classes, but the players were intimidating and threatening. I think they are all assholes.
http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/U%20of%20M%20EOAA%20redacted5.pdf
KateC at January 4, 2017 8:59 AM
When I read about cases like this, I have a hard time imagining being so desperate for sex that I'd be willing to participate in an orgy with one woman and 9 other guys. I would think that at least half of those involved wouldn't be satisfied with that ratio and just walk away. If it was 10 men and 5 women, THAT I would understand.
Fayd at January 4, 2017 9:27 AM
That's a pretty damning report, KateC. Even though it does not include any information from the accused students' perspectives or any counter testimony, it still makes you wonder how the police reached a different conclusion.
Conan the Grammarian at January 4, 2017 9:31 AM
A petition on change.org got Claeys fired. Let's start one of our own and get him reinstated.
jdgalt at January 4, 2017 10:29 AM
In the 1600's etc thousands of mostly women were burned as witches. How do we know they were innocent? Because there is no such thing as a witch. Mostly they were accused by other women and mostly they were not powerful individuals. The accusers "felt" that they were witches or just wanted them destroyed for some reason. This is what happens when feelings over-rule law.
cc at January 4, 2017 10:43 AM
"...to see that we don't punish people whose guilt has not been proved."
Proven.
Patrick at January 4, 2017 12:13 PM
Women: Respect me, dammit!
Men: No.
Women: Love me, dammit!
Men: Why?
Jay R at January 4, 2017 12:17 PM
Unless you believe 50 percent or more of women who make a rape accusation are lying, then under the 50.01 percent standard, all men accused of rape are automatically guilty.
This is not an accident.
The WolfMan at January 4, 2017 2:16 PM
The police wathced a video that they claimed showed her to be lucid, sober, and not in distress
Seems to me, if a bunch of black guys raped a white woman and a DA could have made a case to pad his resume they would have.
Gang rape is low hanging fruit, the fact the local DA passed twice aught to tell us something, especially if there was video of the incident
lujlp at January 4, 2017 3:38 PM
She had a restraining order because they were harassing her (some accounts claim she's a cheerleader) but then came to some settlement out of court, so the orders were dropped. My hunch is that she was drunk enough to not be able to get out of the bedroom and they were shitty enough to not care at all. That the rest of the team sided with them sucks.
KateC at January 4, 2017 5:35 PM
Tell me, had she been drunk enough to get in a car and not able to get home without crashing into someone else's car would you claim she was too drunk to consent to drive and therefore shouldnt be held responsible for her willing actions?
Why is it when the subject becomes sex suddenly women become so incompetent that nothing they choose to do is ever their fault?
Now had those guys been suspended for harassing her afterwards, and there was evidence, I wouldnt have a problem.
But they were expelled for rape, a criminal charge that the police and local prosecuting attorney passed on, and went on the record saying their was video showing her to be a willing participent
Also as we saw from that 'walking the streets of New York' video, saying hello is now considered harassment, also refusing to say hello is harassment
lujlp at January 5, 2017 10:24 PM
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