Not All Who Are Named Are Guilty
There are real abuses, but “innocent until proven guilty” is necessary for the health of a democratic society.
It is a troubling time we live in here in the United States. For many reasons. But the one that weighs most heavily on my heart is the presumed guilt of citizens within our culture.
The presumption of innocence has been a legal tradition in our country since her inception. As children, we grow up learning this is an important part of what makes our country special. We understand the judicial system is crucial to making our democratic republic successful. Furthermore, we are taught that it is not appropriate to spread false information about others. Whether this be by our parents instilling this morality in us and explaining the ramifications of spreading rumors, or by our knowledge of the legal system’s libel laws and defamation of character, or by the simple fact that “Do not bear false witness” is one of the Ten Commandments, we wait for the facts.
Today, however, though media and within our conversations, we are witnessing a run on cultural conviction of citizens based on rumors or hearsay. The individuals being accused are mostly white males, but anything about anyone seems to be on the table at this point. A slew of credible accusations of sexual harassment in the past couple of weeks has set us off. This comes on the heels of the large number of guilty verdicts being passed down from college disciplinary hearings — which have not held up well in courts of law. Still, more and more of us are not interested in hearing the facts or the accused’s side but are ready to cast blame within a matter of seconds.
There are bad actors. Absolutely. And both men and women should be held accountable for illegal and unjust behaviors. But just as I do not believe the majority of women are victims of career discrimination and unequal pay, I also do not believe that most men are predators. Yet, media, popular culture, and political circles want us to believe this time and time again.
On November 9th, the Weekly Standard published an eye opening article on why campus rape tribunals hand down so many guilty verdicts. “Since 2011, the federal government has required all universities that receive federal money to provide training or experience in handling complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence to adjudicators and investigators.” The problem is that those in academia are not prepared to perform a legal role. They are educators.
Yet, they take on the role of both judge and jury, with a student’s education and reputation on the line. Many of the college disciplinary boards, which are sometimes simply one person, place so much emphasis on sparing the victim from “more trauma” that those accused are prevented from explaining their side of the situation, showing texts or documentation demonstrating that the sexual encounter was indeed consensual, or even exhibiting inconsistencies in the victim’s story. Even the word “alleged” — a legal and journalistic habit — is forbidden before the words “sexual assault” and “victim” in Middlebury’s college training materials. As mentioned above, these cases do not hold up well in courts of law.
Then there is the notorious UVA Rape Story with the alleged victim, “Jackie” published in Rolling Stone. We now know the reported incident was false. A fraternity and a university were dragged through the ringer with false information. Three lawsuits for defamation arose, with one still ongoing.
While I do not want to pass judgement either way on the number of college sexual assault claims or on the sexual harassment claims in Hollywood, Capitol Hill and other places that have surfaced in the past weeks, I do believe that assuming guilt of all of the individuals without proof is a frightening road to start down. Stuart Taylor, Jr. who wrote the book The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at America’s Universities says the statistics are “highly misleading” and that “the people who are hyping this as a huge epidemic are ideologues. Facts don’t matter to them.”
With information being slung from every direction, it is hard to know what is true and what is false. When a sexual assault does truly happen, I fear the subject is now watered down. What if sexual assault or sexual harassment victims are not taken seriously? Or conversely, what if someone is accused of sexual harassment who is actually innocent? These are people’s lives and reputations. We need to seriously look at the accusations being leveled across the country and ensure real victims are protected.
The long-term consequences are dangerous. As a mother of four children, I worry what their future will be like. While the guilty-until-proven-innocent atmosphere seems to be directed toward everyone, I worry most for my sons. The presumption decks are stacked against men these days, but that doesn’t mean this journey can’t hurt us all if we’re not careful.
