An Absence Of Malice?

Absence of malice is a legal standard which protects a newspaper which publishes false stories from libel suits. In layman terms, it’s “Well, we were wrong, but we didn’t intentionally mean to hurt anyone. It’s also the name of a 1981 movie starring Paul Newman and Sally Field. The poster for the movie said, “In America, can a man be guilty until proven innocent?” In the movie, a journalist played by Sally Field fails to consider the motivations of her anonymous sources. In fact, she is duped into using some deliberately leaked false information and writes a story that Mr. Gallagher, played by Paul Newman, was linked to the death of a mob boss. In the pursuit of the story, she seems to forgets she’s talking about actual people, people who will have to live with the effects of what she writes about them.

While some in the Press consider themselves the fourth branch of government, they are not a court, they are neither elected nor appointed by the people, nor do they have jurisdiction to adjudicate competing claims. When a victim chooses to go to the press instead of the police, what they seek is public humiliation, not private justice. And, because the press isn’t a court, it doesn’t have to follow the bedrock principle that American law is based on, innocent until proven guilty.

But did you ever consider what exactly you are considered innocent of? The accusation! Innocent until proven guilty means that all accusations are considered false until proven true in a court of law. The “when” doesn’t matter. If you tell someone that I hit you in your arm at 6 am today, and I didn’t, I didn’t. Doesn’t matter if you told this lie 36 mins afterward, 36 hours, 36 months, or 36 years, it is still a lie.

There is no statute of limitations on lying.

While guilt or innocence isn’t a factor of time, it very well may be a factor in your ability to prove yourself innocent.

Let’s take a historical view of how accusations are treated. First collaboration. In 1400 BC, Jews in the Old Testament were told “out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed. Second balance. In 725 AD the Welsh King Morgan of Gla-Morgan established jury trials which he modeled after Jesus and his twelve apostles. Third Appeal: Apostle Paul after appearing before the Roman Governor Felix, the Roman Governor Festus, and King Agrippa, said, “I appeal to Ceaser!”

But we now have a situation in 2018 in which accusations alone are considered to be true until proven false. At least woman's accusations of men are. They are considered true without any additional witness, without any proof, without any rules of evidence. In this Alice in Wonderland World of Public Opinion, the Press has become the prosecutor, the jury is Public opinion, and the generally speaking your boss passes judgment on you, the sentence is economic death. You lose your reputation, your promotion, your post, your paycheck. Because no man is ever found innocent in the court of public opinion.

Do a woman’s accusations deserve to be believed, just because she’s a woman? Of course not. That statement is sexist and gender biased, and in this day and age, insensitive and …confusing. Caitlyn Jenner spent a lot of time in locker rooms when she was Bruce. Should we believe an accusation of sexual assault from her today that we won’t have in his high school days?

Just become some women weren’t believed in the past when they told the truth about sexual assault, does that mean that now all women are telling the truth? OF COURSE NOT! There are women who have lied in the past, as Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph, a slave in Egypt, accusing him of rape when he turned her down her advances, ran and left his coat with her, more recently like 19-year-old Nikki Rovino, who lied about being raped by two Bridgeport CT football players to impress a prospective boyfriend (?). There are even some women like Jemma Bale who are serial false rape accusers! This one woman accused 15 different men of rape to impress her lesbian girlfriend (?).

Now, there are those who say these incidents are only 2–3%. I doubt that's the real number, as most men are going to be so relieved that the charges were dropped or they were found innocent, they can't be bothered to report it. For a more accurate view, I call for the creation of a Registered False Rape Accuser list, so men can steer clear. Women wouldn't get on this list by the man being declared “not guilty”, because she isn’t on trial. They would get on it because the man charged her with a false rape accusation and she was convicted of perjury. Because that could take years for a court to implement, I suggest the immediate creation of a civilian database, where men can post their own stories, upload the name and photo of their accuser. Of course, there needs to be an app for that so the rest of us can check before your first date.

This generation of men cannot stand by and watch our sons our brothers, our fathers, ourselves and our friends live their lives in constant fear of the power of a false accusation. Lest you think I’m blowing this generational thing out of proportion, remember this. The Boys Scouts, age 11–17, now allow girls to join. Yes, your grandson, potential Supreme Court Justice nominee, could potentially have an accusation dating back to a camping trip when he was 12. And since in your wisdom Mom, you gave your son a cell phone, she will have “proof”. The text message that said “Your tent, or mine”. Even though she sent that to him.

Women accusations need to be taken seriously, but not truthfully, certainly not in the press and not in public. Since in America, a man CAN be found guilty until proven innocent by the Press, and since there is no statute of limitations on lying about sexual assault,

ABOLISH THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR ALL SEX CRIMES ……

Believe women. Let them have their file their accusations in a Court of Law that has local jurisdiction, where they can be heard by 6 men and 6 women and judged to be true or false.

In conclusion, may I point to none other than Bill Cosby, at 81 years old, as proof that the no man, even a famous, wealthy one, at one time admired and well-liked is beyond conviction in a court… OF.LAW.