By Thomas Welch
Class of 2020
After the fervent testimony given by both Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate and the President thought it was necessary to fully investigate the allegations. All sexual assault allegations should be taken seriously, but it’s also important to remember that those accused are still entitled to due process. The legal rights given to all citizens in the United States should not be infringed upon, especially the presumption of innocence.
The #MeToo movement has brought to justice many powerful people, previously not investigated for sexual crimes. If it weren’t for this movement, people like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer might have continued with their history of sexual misconduct. However, on the other hand, you have the people whose futures and careers have been ruined by false accusations.
Nev Schulman, one of the hosts of the MTV show “Catfish,” was accused of sexual misconduct. Before the case was even closed, MTV had suspended the show, and had plans set to cancel it if he was convicted. Though eventually Nev was exonerated, People magazine reported that he felt “powerless” during the investigation, and throughout the whole process. “It was a really difficult time for me, as much for my wife and my family,” he said. “To be accused of something that I squarely did not do and to have the harsh judgment that followed and no way to counteract or do something in the moment to correct that was very difficult. It was frustrating.” MTV lifted the suspension later, saying they concluded the accusations were “not credible and without merit.” But the damage to his reputation and career had already been done.
In February of 2017, two Sacred Heart University football players were accused of raping 19-year-old Nikki Yovino at an off-campus party. They both denied the claims, saying it was completely consensual. The police ran a full investigation, but before they could come to a conclusion, Nikki admitted the claims were false. She had made the allegations in the hopes of getting the attention of a boy she wanted to date at the time. She was sentenced to one year in jail. This case was locally popular, and became nationally known when a video of her went viral as she rolled her eyes while being sentenced for her false claims.
One of the most infamous false rape accusations, pre-dating #MeToo by more than ten years, is the Duke Lacrosse case. In 2006, three members of the Duke Lacrosse team were accused of raping North Carolina Central student Crystal Mangum at a party, held by two of the the team’s captains. The District Attorney suggested it was also a hate crime. Before any evidence (or lack thereof) was uncovered by the police, Duke University had suspended the entire team for two days, and the allegations forced head coach Mike Pressler to resign. Duke president Richard Brodhead would go on to cancel the remainder of the 2006 season for the team.
Thirteen months after the accusations were made, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper exonerated the boys, saying they were victims of a “tragic rush to accuse.” The District Attorney, Mike Nifong, was disbarred after withholding information and lying about DNA evidence, and served just one day in jail. For false felony claims, which had she not confessed would have sent some innocent college student to jail for anywhere between eighteen months to ten years, Crystal Mangum would face no jail time, and would never even be charged.
Young men, especially college students, are being brought to the harsh reality that the world is changing. Reade Seligmann, one of the Duke lacrosse players, had this to say in a public statement after his exoneration: “This entire experience has opened my eyes to a tragic world of injustice I never knew existed. If police officers and a district attorney can systematically railroad us with absolutely no evidence whatsoever, I can’t imagine what they’d do to people who do not have the resources to defend themselves.”
Studies cited by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center show that only about 2%-10% of sexual assault accusations turn out to be false claims. That is a significant figure that can’t be ignored, especially considering those are only the claims that have been proven to be false. But due process is a staple in our nation’s founding; innocent until proven guilty protects the people from being punished unfairly. Having to prove guilt protects from unsensible repercussions towards innocent citizens. Being able to make allegations without evidence and having a strong chance of conviction shows the brutality of the pattern of guilty until proven innocent when it comes to sexual assault/harassment.
In the Kavanaugh investigation, it’s back and forth with each side giving statements contradicting the other. Conservatives say they believe Kavanaugh, and liberals say they believe Ford. But this shouldn’t be politically motivated. This is about holding ourselves to the standard of due process, and coming to a calculated conclusion on who is telling the truth. Senator Lindsey Graham said during the September 27th hearing that Kavanaugh was a victim too. The lives of these two real people with real families have been upended, and this is before the FBI investigation has even begun. They are equally entitled to due process and innocence until proven guilty.
