Justice for All

For John, BLUF:  We need to avoid being caught up in a moral panic.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Color me skeptical

From Nocturnal Lives, the blog of Ms Amanda Green, by Ms Green, 9 March 2018.

Here is the lede:

A couple of days ago, I did a quick bit about an allegation that Mark Cuban, the sometimes controversial owner of the Dallas Mavericks, sexually assaulting a woman in 2011.  I’ve been thinking about the story and the follow-ups to it since.  Whether you’re a fan of Cuban or not, what is happening to him — and to so many other men right now — should worry you.  We have gone from a country where someone was assumed innocent until proven guilty to one where, if you are male and a woman accuses you of sexually harassing her, you are assumed guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

This isn't a case of Mr Cuban having done something and it just now coming to the surface.  It was investigated at the time, to include a polygraph.  A District Attorney, with the agreement of the complainant, decided not to prosecute.

And this is the money graph:

When are we going to remember that one of the core foundations of our country is the presumption of innocence?  When are we going to accept that not every allegation of sexual assault or harassment is valid and that they need to be investigated before we rush to judgment?  No, we do NOT have to believe every allegation as it comes forward.  Why?  Because there are too many cases where a woman — or members of her family — have leveled charges falsely against a man.

It we just go on believing the victim then there will be cases where the pain will transfer from the accuser to the innocent person accused  That is not the Anglo-Saxon way of justice.  Sir William Blackstone set the standard back in 1765:

It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.

On the other hand, there is the more European view, as expressed by WWII NKVD Chief Lavrentiy Beria:

Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff