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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (14239)10/29/2003 6:36:33 AM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (1) of 793777
 
The issue today is no longer whether "no" means "yes," but whether she really said "no."

That earlier Estrich column was a much better one, very coherent and to the point.

<<The issue today is no longer whether "no" means "yes," but whether she really said "no.">>

She's right on target with the significance of this. Times have changed, although they haven't changed evenly and we are in a murky period of transition. The rape shield laws were instituted to protect women from the former. In the latter scenario, the rape shield laws may work against justice, if they work at all.

I was posting on this topic on another thread. My opinion is that it takes physical evidence of having resisted to reasonably assure a conviction. If you don't fight back so you have something to prove the "no," it would be hard to convict. If you have a he-said-she-said, as in this case, then the backgrounds of both parties come into play to help determine credibility. There really isn't any other way to do it. I just wish we could do it in the courts rather than in the media. Jurors make better assessors of the facts and of credibility than the media and the public.

I have also stated that I think it's time to reconsider the value of withholding the woman's name. It caters to the notion that being raped is something to be ashamed of, more so than being mugged is something to be ashamed of. The whole business of rape prosecution is evolving and doing so awkwardly.
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