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Thread: It isn't just false convictions that are the problem

  1. #1

    Default It isn't just false convictions that are the problem

    https://reason.com/blog/2018/10/09/u...oo-sex-hook-up

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    "[Becky's] account of the incident as set forth in the summary of her investigative interviews does not, on its face, allege any 'act of Prohibited Conduct,'" James's attorney wrote in an April 11 letter to Wendi Delmendo, UC-Davis's Title IX coordinator. "Even if everything [Becky] alleges is true, my client clearly did nothing wrong and did not engage in Prohibited Conduct."

    And yet the investigation continued until May 1—at which point the Office of Student and Judiciary Affairs finally concluded that James was innocent. Even so, Becky was afforded the opportunity to appeal the decision, consistent with university policy as dictated by the Obama administration's Education Department, which had obligated college administrators to give accusers the option of appealing adverse findings if they granted this right to the accused.

    I've covered dozens of Title IX cases involving dubious sexual misconduct allegations, unfair adjudicatory procedures, and life-ruining consequences for the young men involved. James's situation is different: He was cleared, and is now enjoying his sophomore year at UC-Davis. In some sense, the process worked.

    Even so, James had to spend most of a semester fearful that his life as he knew it was about to end—that his name would become synonymous with the evil men of #MeToo. He had to recount the intimate details of an amorous encounter to university administrators, a lawyer, and his parents. And his family shelled out $12,000 in legal fees.

    "We're not a rich family, so that made a sizeable debt," says James. "Tuition for UC-Davis is around $16,000 a year. This was almost another year of college."

    This was the cost of successfully defending against a sexual misconduct allegation that wasn't even really an allegation of sexual misconduct.

    *****

    Good freaken grief. This entire notion that colleges should be doing these investigations are absurd.

  2. #2
    Quite right. They should just do what for-profit companies in the private sector do: have a senior administrator and HR official listen to the complaint, to the accused' rebuttal, and then kick them both out as potential sources of liability. Above all keep it quiet, so no one hears about it, and non-transparent, so no one can figure out what was done if they do somehow hear about it.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  3. #3
    Lewk, did you mean false *accusations* in yet ANOTHER thread to troll your perception that "hoaxes" against white men/conservatives/Christians are rampant? From the article:

    There's little doubt that the #MeToo movement has accomplished much good, or that sexual misconduct is a serious problem—in Hollywood, in politics, in the media, in the workplace, and on college campuses. The bitter confirmation fight over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, marred by accusations of sexual assault and harassment against him, shows that we haven't come close to figuring out the right balance between respect for victims and fairness for alleged perpetrators. It's certainly the case that a lot of powerful men are still getting away with terrible behavior, but we have also seen plenty of public lynchings of men whose failures seemed far less serious or obvious. Jezebel recently called for the #MeToo movement to boldly wade into "the gray areas"—encounters that are problematic but fall short of actionable sexual assault. I wonder if that would mean encouraging more women like Becky to see themelves as victims and behave accordingly.

    In the midst of the Kavanaugh battle, President Donald Trump remarked that it was a "very scary time for young men in America," which drew indignant scoffs from the left. The president's interest in due process and the presumption of innocence is, as always, highly selective. But this doesn't mean Trump's critics should completely reject the sentiment. There are many victims of sexual mistreatment, but there are victims of bad-faith accusations as well. James was lucky to get through his "very scary time" unscathed, and those who carry the banner of #MeToo should denounce excesses and overreaches like the one he experienced.
    Since the author uses terms like *public lynchings*, he clearly has an agenda, and writes in a way that purposely stokes (white) male paranoia and fear. He floats words like "many" and "lucky" to men, yet pays lip service to female victims by saying grey areas need work. There are thousands if not millions of victims, mostly girls and women, so the numbers just don't support this new male "victimhood" theory you're pushing.

    If you really cared about inequities or injustice, you should want to make reporting and investigating *any* accusation of sexual assault easier to process. Take it out of the university's oversight and give it to law enforcement, prosecutors and juries. And fund those agencies properly. Do you know that thousands of rape kits are literally rotting in police evidence lockers? Or the pathetic rate of prosecutions and jail time for sexual offenders? Those are the truly scary numbers.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    Quite right. They should just do what for-profit companies in the private sector do: have a senior administrator and HR official listen to the complaint, to the accused' rebuttal, and then kick them both out as potential sources of liability. Above all keep it quiet, so no one hears about it, and non-transparent, so no one can figure out what was done if they do somehow hear about it.
    Anecdotal but relevant: I knew a guy in HS who was very smart and quite gifted, but he was also too "touchy" with girls. We wrote it off as being immature or socially awkward, but apparently it followed him to college and his engineering job at Hewlett Packard. He was eventually fired for consistent, persistent sexual harassment of female workers, including his boss. He never did understand what he'd done wrong (even tho there was an arbitration process, and he was given sensitivity training, counseling, and all sorts of other benefits to keep him on -- because he was valued as a smart and gifted employee). He actually believed he was being persecuted for being a man in a company with growing female leadership.


    edit: Girls didn't report his inappropriate behavior to the Dean because we knew it wouldn't go anywhere. There were male teachers engaged in inappropriate behavior too, but they never got punished, even after credible complaints were filed. That was how it was back then, and we knew the score: no one believed girls, but boys/men were always afforded the benefit of doubt.

    This guy might have fared better in today's society, where his 'creepiness' could have been nipped in the bud at a young age, during his HS years. Maybe he had a disorder like Asperger's that wasn't so easily diagnosed or treated back then? I do know he suffered deep depression with suicidal ideation in his 40's, and he ended up selling surf boards in California and living on friends' couches.
    Last edited by GGT; 10-11-2018 at 06:16 AM.

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