Thankfully, the blogosphere exists. Why? Because where the MSM lacks the will, intellect, curiosity, open-mindedness, fairness, time and money to honestly investigate truly important cases, a multitude of individuals have all these traits and more. Such is the Duke Rape Case.
With a corrupt DA, a complicit local media and a callous Duke campus, three young men would be sent down the river (and they still might, heaven forbid) with no advocates whatsoever. Instead, sites like LieStoppers are doing a huge service to keep this information front and center.
Why do I think this case is so important? Well it's about race, true. It's about class, true. It's about sex, true. It's about feminism, true. But what it's really about is justice or lack thereof because of all of the above social factors together.
Rape, next to murder, is one of the most heinous crimes. Brutality in the sexual form has such far-reaching consequences to the victim. It can truly be said that a woman's life is never the same after the experience. Her sex life, her self-view, her societal view all get changed in an instant. This affects her relationships. This affects how she teaches her children about the world. It is a soul-stealing crime from which some people never recover.
When a woman falsely accuses a man of this crime, it is doubly horrendous. She knows the societal implications. She knows that rapists and sexual predators are viewed with more scorn than murderers. Her intent is to do great harm to a person's reputation and she knows that the likelihood of the man ever getting his name back is almost nil. That's one reason false accusations are so bad. The other reason it's horrendous is the damage done to all women who might face this crime. Lying, vindictive women injure not just the wrongly accused man, but also women trying to muster the courage to bring such a difficult charge to light.
The Duke Rape case is so without merit and such a miscarriage of justice, it should cause every single one of us to sit up and pay attention. The consequences of this case are enormous. Three men have their very lives hanging in the balance when it should all just be over. And yet, because of jealousy, racial vendettas, and prosecutorial malfeasance, the case marches on.
When a woman is raped, she is rendered compliant because to fight often means the threat of death. It's the helplessness, the violence and the invasion that damage her. And here these men wait--helpless, rendered compliant and experiencing violence and invasion.
Injustice for one of us is injustice for all of us. This case must be dropped.
False accusations of rape destroys lives
ReplyDelete(Whether accidental or malicious)
Rape is a horrible crime, and anyone who commits it should be punished to the full extent of the law. This is a very hot and emotional topic, but we must not get so emotional that we lose our objectivity, and create laws that condemn the falsely accused.
Once the accusation is made, the “accused” is assumed to be guilty by just referring to the “accuser” as a “victim”, and not as an “alleged-victim.” This attitude colors the public’s, police, and juror’s perception as “victim” versus “the accused”; thus implies guilt.
I was surprise of how many false rape accusations have been made by several independent surveys reveal that 42% to approximately half of all accusations made are false. Most cases involve divorce battles involving the custody of children, some for revenge for withdraw of affection, monetary gains, an excuse for infidelity, or misidentification.
• According to the FBI, one of every 12 claims of rape filed in the United States are later deemed 'unfounded,' meaning the case was closed because the alleged victim recanted or because investigators found no evidence of a crime.
• Howard County Police classified one out of every four rape allegations as unfounded in 1990-91.
• The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers says around 600 teachers a year are falsely accused - a trebling since the 1989 Children's Act.
• Citing a recent USA Today article, discussing the miracle of DNA and FBI studies of sexual assault suspects, DNA testing exonerated about 30% to 35% of the more than 4,000 sexual assault suspects on whom the FBI had conducted DNA testing over the past three years.
• Purdue sociologist Eugene J. Kanin, in over 40% of the cases reviewed, the complainants eventually admitted that no rape had occurred (Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1994).
• 1985 the Air Force conducted a study of 556 rape accusations. Over 25% of the accusers admitted, either just before they took a lie detector test or after they had failed it, that no rape occurred.
• 1996 Department of Justice Report, of the roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases analyzed with DNA evidence over the previous seven years, 2,000 excluded the primary suspect, and another 2,000 were inconclusive.
• Linda Fairstein, who heads the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit. Fairstein, the author of Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape, says, "there are about 4,000 reports of rape each year in Manhattan. Of these, about 50% simply did not happen."
• Craig Silverman, a former Colorado prosecutor known for his zealous prosecution of rapists during his 16-year career, says that false rape accusations occur with "scary frequency." As a regular commentator on the Bryant trial for Denver's ABC affiliate, Silverman noted that "any honest veteran sex assault investigator will tell you that rape is one of the most falsely reported crimes." According to Silverman, a Denver sex-assault unit commander estimates that nearly 50% of all reported rape claims are false.
Making it too easy to convict a person of rape, while at the same time making it difficult, if not impossible, to defend against it is wrong! False accusations will destroy a person’s life and reputation. A false conviction will lead to long prison sentences and having to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Give authority to make an accuser’s past medical and sexual history admissible at the judge’s discretion if it’s relevant to the case. If there is a concern of further potential trauma to the “alleged-victim”, then further counseling should be encouraged. A speedy means just to convict anyone should never be an option.
Rape is a horrible crime, but false accusations of rape are every bit as horrible. They are a form of psychological rape that can emotionally, socially, and economically destroy a person even if there is no conviction. The stigma attaches to the falsely accused for life. Few believe them and few care.
I had a girl accuse me of rape, she worked with my wife and was our babysiter. She also dated my brother in law. This girl accused me after she and my wife had an argument. I spent five days in custody and large amount of money for my legal defense. Thankfully the DA's office never filed and several month later DNA cleared me. However after reading all the police reports I could not believe all the lies the girl had made. Now I have to deal with my dept.(I am a police officer) who are now investigating me. My wife, my daughters and I are the real victims here. When the media runs stories like this, and Poilce depts don't go after the accuser for false police reports they only enable girls to continue there lies.
ReplyDeleteThe rape shield law is a law that should not exist. I am currently dealing with a completely false charge of rape. I had protected consensual sex with a another college student. After she told me "fuck me." The girl who accussed me has already accussed three men of raping her three years ago. If this goes to court the rape shield law could likely prevent us from presenting this evidence. Further the girls story makes no sense. She says that I did not "fully penetrate," but she bleed prefusely the next day. Also Policeman should be held more accountable, it took the police a month to charge me but during this time they did not even talk to witnesses or collect evidence. I even took a lie detector test that i passed. They still charged me.
ReplyDeleteread my story..I've been through this,false accusations affect you your entire life..whats left of it.
ReplyDeleteFalse accusations are not a victimless crime..and some police departments never prosecute the offenders..follow the link to read my story..
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