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Liberty University Hit With Record Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes — ProPublica

  
Via:  Devangelical  •  8 months ago  •  58 comments

By:   Eric Umansky (ProPublica)

Liberty University Hit With Record Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes — ProPublica
Spurred by a ProPublica investigation, the federal Department of Education found the evangelical school in Virginia had discouraged students from reporting rape and other crimes.

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 rwnj higher education: thumpin' and humpin'...


S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


The federal Department of Education has announced a historic $14 million fine against Liberty University for failing to properly handle reports of sexual assault and other campus safety isssues.

Universities are required by law to support victims of violence. The Education Department found that the Christian evangelical Liberty University had fundamentally failed to do so. Sexual assault victims were "punished for violating the student code of conduct," the report concluded, "while their assailants were left unpunished."

The government found that Liberty's actions had created a "culture of silence."

The findings, which the department announced Tuesday, echo a ProPublica investigation that detailed how officials had discouraged and dismissed women who tried to come forward with accounts of sexual assault. Women who went to school officials to report being raped recalled being threatened with punishment for breaking the university's strict moral code, known as "The Liberty Way."

The coverage prompted widespread outrage, including demands from senators for a Department of Education investigation.

That investigation culminated in Tuesday's announcement. The fines against Liberty are more than double the amount of the next-largest fines in Department of Education history — against Michigan State University for its failures to protect hundreds of women and girls from sexual abuser Larry Nassar.

Liberty will also face two years of federal oversight.

Elizabeth Axley, a former Liberty University student who was threatened with punishment when she reported her rape to campus officials, said the government's findings against Liberty feel "so validating and sort of surreal."

"For an official report to say, 'Yes, everything you said happened, everything you described was real,' is more powerful than I can describe," said Axley, who recalled that when she first wanted to report her rape, a resident adviser told her to pray instead. "After I first fought to stand up for myself at Liberty, I was silenced. I didn't feel hopeful. It took everything for me to stand up to tell my story again and hope it turned out right. This reminds me it was completely worth it."

In response to the government's report, Liberty University said in a statement that it faced "unfair treatment." But the school also admitted to mistakes and committed to spending $2 million to improve campus safety.

"We acknowledge and sincerely regret these errors and have since corrected them in a manner that allows us to maintain compliance in each of these areas," the school said. "Today is a new day at Liberty University. We remain committed to prioritizing the safety and security of our students and staff without exception."

Liberty University was co-founded in 1971 by the televangelist Jerry Falwell. His son, Jerry Falwell Jr., took over the university's helm in 2007 but resigned in 2020 after a series of scandals. With more than 90,000 students enrolled on its Virginia campus and online, Liberty remains one of the most influential Christian universities in the county.

S. Daniel Carter, who helped craft the Clery Act, the federal law that requires schools to report sexual assault and other crimes, said the significance of the Department of Education's actions go beyond the record fines. "It's not about a bottom line number," Carter said. "It's about the fact that they are proactively investigating and leading efforts to bring schools into compliance."


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devangelical
Professor Principal
1  seeder  devangelical    8 months ago

but what about religious freedom? because there's nothing quite as biblical as non-consensual xtian wacko sex and forced birth...

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
1.1  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @1    8 months ago

A bunch of bible humper 'colleges' - there must be so much date rape and outright rape everywhere on these bible humping campuses

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2  Kavika     8 months ago

$14 million fine, now that will get the attention of those that keep secrets at the cost of young people's safety.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
2.1  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Kavika @2    8 months ago

sheesh, it's the main reason thumper's let a biblically inferior gender into a university in the first place. sounds like somebody didn't read their college submission forms before they signed up. school policy is life at conception and no exceptions for abortions. *poof*, in 20+ years, america will be crawling with enough dipshit bible thumpers to rule their new geezusland. /s

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
3  Drinker of the Wry    8 months ago

I’ve never understood why universities get away with treating sex crimes as something they handle instead of the city police and DA.

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
4  JBB    8 months ago

Jerry Falwell's Rapey Raper Rape University...

 
 
 
sandy-2021492
Professor Expert
5  sandy-2021492    8 months ago

I really don't understand how enrollment here stays up.  I thought the Jerry Falwell, Jr. scandals would have some effect on how many kids want to attend (or how many parents want their kids to attend), but it seems some folks are happy to support his sexual perversions and improper gifting of college property to his friends.

Maybe the thought of Daddy's little girl being raped and told to shut up about it will convince people to expect more from the colleges where they send their kids.  I hope so, but I won't hold my breath.  Liberty seems to be determined to do whatever the hell it wants, and students and parents are fine with that.

 
 
 
Hal A. Lujah
Professor Guide
5.1  Hal A. Lujah  replied to  sandy-2021492 @5    8 months ago

There’s a steady supply of brainwashed drones to draw from.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
5.1.1  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Hal A. Lujah @5.1    8 months ago

stupidity at the abundant natural resource level...

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
5.2  seeder  devangelical  replied to  sandy-2021492 @5    8 months ago
I really don't understand how enrollment here stays up.

there's probably a wait list for devoted young xtian males to attend in person now...

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
5.2.1  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  devangelical @5.2    8 months ago
there's probably a wait list for devoted young xtian males to attend in person now...

More woman than men attend.  They have a 56% acceptance rate and almost as many grad students as undergrads.  I don’t think that there is a waiting list.

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
6  Drinker of the Wry    8 months ago
Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. 2

Campus tribunal attempt to deal with this, not our criminal justice system.  Rules of evidence widely differ, tribunals don’t have procedural safeguards as do even civil cases.  The might be no training standards for investigator or adjudicators and they may even be the same individuals.  Lawyers usually aren’t present.  Expulsion is the most serious punishment a tribunal can levy for rape.

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
7  Drinker of the Wry    8 months ago

[]

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
7.1  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  Drinker of the Wry @7    8 months ago

[Deleted]

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
8  Trout Giggles    8 months ago
Women who went to school officials to report being raped recalled being threatened with punishment for breaking the university's strict moral code, known as "The Liberty Way."

Yeah, you hussies! Stop wearing pants and make sure your skirts cover your ankles. While you're at it, start wearing veils.

I don't need to label this as sarcasm do I?

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
8.1  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Trout Giggles @8    8 months ago
I don't need to label this as sarcasm do I?

not in this group. the fucking thumper morons are over in the groups with patriotic names...

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
9  mocowgirl    8 months ago

As much as I detest Liberty University and their ilk, I detest protecting rapists far more wherever it happens.  Universities have been protecting rapists for decades.  I remember reading an article in Cosmopolitan magazine in the 1990s at how prevalent it was for the rape victims of college athletes to either be silenced or forced out of their schools.  

RAPE should not be treated as a partisan issue.  Does it actually matter if the rapist is a Conservative, a Liberal, a Christian, a Muslim, an atheist, etc.?  Why are our colleges led by men who protect rapists?  As well as the US police force and judicial system in many instances either discourage rape victims from reporting or turn the rapist free?

I am not going to research and share in-depth stats, but I will share a fairly recent article about how our secular Division I colleges are still happily protecting rapists.

Some highlights.

NCAA athletes more likely to be disciplined for sex assault (usatoday.com)

Like the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America and USA Gymnastics, universities have concealed evidence that would help reveal the extent of their sexual abuse problems — even though Congress rewrote federal law two decades ago to ensure the public has access to campus disciplinary records. 

“Information related to crimes of violence should not be protected from disclosure if we truly want our college campuses to be safe environments for all students,” said then-U.S. Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pennsylvania, during floor debate on the law. “If students do not know about violent offenders in their college community, how will they know how to protect themselves?” 

Over the past year, the USA TODAY Network tried to collect these disciplinary records from 226 Division I public schools across the country. But only 35 complied. The rest either claimed state laws protect the names of students who commit rape and sexual assault, demanded exorbitant sums to provide the information, said they weren’t required to release the records or still haven’t processed the requests. 

That’s 191 schools — 85% of the total — that shielded the identities of alleged abusers at the expense of women’s safety and the public’s right to know. 

The low response rate from universities “is a sad commentary on the culture of secrecy and image obsession that permeates higher education,” said Frank LoMonte, a University of Florida professor and expert in federal student privacy laws. 

“People in higher education have come to regard their institutions as a brand and will do anything to protect the brand,” LoMonte said, “even if that means putting people on campus at risk.” 

From the 35 universities that complied with the requests — except the University of Washington, which is still in the process of providing records after nearly eight months — the USA TODAY Network identified 531 students disciplined for sex offenses since January 2014. One of every 12 names on that list belonged to an NCAA athlete, even though their ratio of enrolled students at those same schools during that time was three times fewer — only one in 36. 

In 1998, Congress amended FERPA to codify that the public should have access to information about violent and sexual offenses committed by students. 
 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
9.1  seeder  devangelical  replied to  mocowgirl @9    8 months ago

I think you're overlooking the irony. a conservative xtian college subverting due process to protect their male students, while compounding the victimization of their female accusers. face the facts, thumpers don't want women involved in higher education.

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
9.1.1  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  devangelical @9.1    8 months ago
subverting due process to protect their male students, while compounding the victimization of their female accusers.

I didn't read anything about due process but as a failure to fully comply with reporting requirements under Title IX.

Due process occurs in our court system, not university tribunals.  

thumpers don't want women involved in higher education.

Student gender distribution there is 44% male students and 56% female students. 

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
9.1.2  mocowgirl  replied to  devangelical @9.1    8 months ago
I think you're overlooking the irony. a conservative xtian college subverting due process to protect their male students, while compounding the victimization of their female accusers. face the facts, thumpers don't want women involved in higher education.

I think you are ignoring that Liberal, secular colleges are doing the exact same thing.

If the Liberals refuse to put their own house in order, then how are they in position for criticizing anyone else for doing the same thing?

Either set the example or be called out for hypocrisy.

We can claim that Christians shield rapists because of their religion.  What I want to know is - What is the reason that Liberals shield rapists?

NCAA athletes more likely to be disciplined for sex assault (usatoday.com)

But 21 years later, there are only two U.S. states — New Mexico and Wyoming — where every Division I public university complied with the USA TODAY Network’s requests for that exact information. 

The universities that complied span 14 states. Most schools in Ohio, Washington and Georgia complied, but a few schools — including Washington State University and the University of Georgia — refused or set up major cost barriers.  

In a few cases, state laws specifically prevented the disclosure of the information. In North Dakota, for example, Title IX records are designated as exempt from public records laws. 

Many schools claimed releasing the information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of the privacy rights of those involved, even though federal lawmakers said the opposite. Three schools in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, for example, said releasing the names “could endanger the life or safety of the accused, as well as the reporting individual and witnesses.” 

Indiana University said the law did not require it to “make determinations” as to which of its student conduct offenses would be considered violent or sexual. 

And some schools issued astronomical fee estimates to provide the same records that other schools gave for free. The University of Maryland said preparing the records would take nearly 600 hours of staff time and cost more than $22,000 to provide. The University of Oregon said it would charge more than $12,000 and redact the records almost entirely anyway. 

But by far the most common excuse from schools was that, rather than require them to provide the information, FERPA simply permitted them to release it if they so choose. Most chose not to. 
 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
9.1.3  seeder  devangelical  replied to  mocowgirl @9.1.2    8 months ago
I think you are ignoring that Liberal, secular colleges are doing the exact same thing.

please provide some recent examples and their federal fines.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.4  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @9.1    8 months ago

I think you're correct.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.5  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @9.1.3    8 months ago

It's not the liberals/progressives who promote rape like these bible humper colleges seem to.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.6  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @9.1.3    8 months ago

So we'll go with this evidence from 21 years ago.  jrSmiley_78_smiley_image.gif

I doubt any more recent examples will be forthcoming

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
9.1.7  mocowgirl  replied to  devangelical @9.1.3    8 months ago
please provide some recent examples and their federal fines.

Again, you are refusing to do your own research.  Why?  

The NCAA system is largely set up to ask the athlete if they were ever accused of rape.  It's called the Honor System.  As if rapists ever possessed any.  

For NCAA, athlete sexual assault vetting is 'Don't ask, Don't tell' (usatoday.com)

At many of the nation’s top sports colleges, vetting athletes for past sexual misconduct and violent acts under a new NCAA policy boils down to one step: asking them.

The policy was the national college sports organization’s answer to a series of scandals in which coaches recruited athletes with histories of violence against women, some of whom were later accused of reoffending. Starting with the 2022-23 school year, the rule was intended to keep campuses safer.

But if an athlete answers “no” to a list of questions about criminal convictions and school disciplinary action, officials at many multi-sport powerhouses – the University of Alabama, Louisiana State University, Ohio State University and more – generally take their word for it.

“They absolutely don’t want to know,” said Brenda Tracy, a gang-rape survivor whose nonprofit, Set The Expectation, works to reduce sexual violence in sports by educating athletes and coaches. “It’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

Adopted three years ago by the NCAA’s highest governing body, the policy requires all 1,100 member schools to take “reasonable steps” to confirm whether new and continuing athletes have records of serious misconduct, including sexual assault, dating violence and assault causing serious bodily harm. Athletes must annually disclose any criminal convictions and school disciplinary actions, and schools must have written procedures for obtaining information from athletes’ previous schools.

The NCAA Board of Governors, however, left the details to each school. It declined to centralize the process, issue uniform standards or define “reasonable steps.” The result is a patchwork of protocols full of loopholes and gaps.

A USA TODAY analysis of vetting practices at 51 schools that compete in the NCAA’s “Power 5” conferences – the top echelon of college sports – found more than half rely on the honor system instead of checking records. While two dozen schools, including Michigan State University and the University of Texas at Austin, require each athlete’s previous institutions to sign a form attesting to their discipline history, 27 other schools verify it only if the athlete answers a question “yes.”

  

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
9.1.8  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Tessylo @9.1.5    8 months ago

no exceptions for rape or incest in their draconian abortion laws means thumpers condone both...

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.9  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @9.1.8    8 months ago

But 'so called' liberals/democrats/progressives are the problem.

jrSmiley_80_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.10  Tessylo  replied to  Tessylo @9.1.4    8 months ago

Correction, I know you are

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.11  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @9.1.7    8 months ago

And this is the fault of liberals how????????????

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.12  Tessylo  replied to  Tessylo @9.1.6    8 months ago

I was correct

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
9.1.13  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  devangelical @9.1.3    8 months ago

[]

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
9.1.14  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  devangelical @9.1.3    8 months ago

[]

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
9.1.15  seeder  devangelical  replied to  mocowgirl @9.1.7    8 months ago
Starting with the 2022-23 school year, the rule was intended to keep campuses safer.

what was the rule before the change? under which administration was the rule change initiated? what influence over the previous rule did the trump administration secretary of the DoE, betsy devos have? what was the rule before her involvement as sec. of DoE? what is her past and present relationships with organized religious groups?

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.16  Tessylo  replied to  devangelical @9.1.15    8 months ago

You're refusing to do your own research!

jrSmiley_80_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
9.1.17  mocowgirl  replied to  devangelical @9.1.15    8 months ago
what was the rule before the change? under which administration was the rule change initiated? what influence over the previous rule did the trump administration secretary of the DoE, betsy devos have? what was the rule before her involvement as sec. of DoE? what is her past and present relationships with organized religious groups?

The answer might be in the article I linked.  

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
9.1.18  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @9.1.17    8 months ago

It isn't.  Why would it be?

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
9.1.19  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  Drinker of the Wry @9.1.14    8 months ago

[]

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
10  evilone    8 months ago

Liberty U repealed their gun ban several years ago. I think its past time we start teaching our daughters and grand daughters to carry.

 
 
 
George
Junior Expert
10.1  George  replied to  evilone @10    8 months ago

100% agee, we also need to teach them that there is no such thing as a fair fight, Do as much damage as you humanly can as fast as you can, and once they are down make sure they stay down.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
10.2  seeder  devangelical  replied to  evilone @10    8 months ago

I gave my daughter a .380 semi-auto and a box of hollow points last summer. she's getting her CCP next month. hopefully she inherited my eye/hand coordination with a handgun too.

 
 
 
charger 383
Professor Silent
10.2.1  charger 383  replied to  devangelical @10.2    8 months ago

Good for you

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
10.2.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  devangelical @10.2    8 months ago

I have a .380. It's a nice gun. Fires easily

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
10.2.3  seeder  devangelical  replied to  Trout Giggles @10.2.2    8 months ago

my daughter is only 100 lbs. soaking wet. the gun I gave her I can palm, which I found made me want to carry everywhere. I'm more comfortable carrying my 9mm glock now, a light weight cop version.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
10.2.4  seeder  devangelical  replied to  devangelical @10.2.3    8 months ago

... but it has no hard safety, and my hunters safety indoctrination from 57 years ago makes me worry about that.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
10.2.5  seeder  devangelical  replied to  devangelical @10.2.4    8 months ago

I really don't want to risk grazing a cheek...

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.3  mocowgirl  replied to  evilone @10    8 months ago
I think its past time we start teaching our daughters and grand daughters to carry.

Then you will need to change laws to protect women from needing video, a hundred witnesses, and the best lawyer that money can buy (and maybe a judge that can be bought) to keep them out of prison.

Also, money for re-location, a name change and lifelong therapy to deal with the fallout in local, national, and international media for killing some woman's baby who was the apple of her eye, harmless, misunderstood and loved by his friends, family, community, church and God.

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.3.1  mocowgirl  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3    8 months ago
Then you will need to change laws to protect women from needing video, a hundred witnesses, and the best lawyer that money can buy (and maybe a judge that can be bought) to keep them out of prison.

Recent example.  The male murderer sentenced to 10 years, probably out in 5 years.

I watched the video of this man shooting his wife.  I don't know if the all woman jury did, but they had sympathy for the male murderer instead of his female victim.

Jury sentences Carey Birmingham, Spring, TX man, to 10 years for murder of wife Patricia Birmingham after seeing video of shooting - ABC7 Chicago

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas --   An all-women jury, which is rare but can happen, sentenced a Texas man to 10 years in prison for the murder of his wife after being shown a video of the shooting. Now, the couple's daughter is finding the strength to tell her mother's story.

"Alright, goodbye. You're (going to) meet Jesus," Carey Birmingham told his wife, Patricia Birmingham, before he shot her with his gun outside their home in Spring.

In the video, Carey can be heard firing his gun three times.

"I hope it was worth it," he said.

The shooting happened while the couple's daughter, Olivia, was at school.

"I lost both my parents that day. My dad died that day, too, because the person who did that to my mom and my father aren't the same person," Olivia said.

Patricia and Carey had roughly a 30-minute argument leading up to the shooting.

Carey's defense attorney, Anthony Osso, said they pleaded guilty directly to an all-female jury. He said their strategy was to accept responsibility but convince jurors that Carey shot Patricia in the heat of the moment.

"We never tried to justify the actions of our client, but the defense wasn't about justification. It was about why he did what he did," Osso said.

But Olivia said she finds her father's defense questionable at best.

"I don't know, sudden passion? You have to have something. You have to have made that decision within you for a while; I feel like to do something, to do that to someone you really love," Olivia said.

Carey was given a 10-year sentence with the possibility of parole after five years.

Olivia said she spoke to her father in court and provided ABC13 with a summary of her statement:

"No matter what was said in this trial, you know what type of woman she was, and you know what you did and how he took away my favorite person in this world," she said.

Olivia testified that she had never witnessed her father physically abusing her mom, but she wanted to raise awareness that there are different types of abuse she experienced, including emotional and financial. She said that while she still loves her father, she can never forgive him.
 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
10.3.2  evilone  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3    8 months ago
Then you will need to change laws to protect women from needing video, a hundred witnesses, and the best lawyer that money can buy (and maybe a judge that can be bought) to keep them out of prison.

What part of current law needs to be changed? Stand your ground is legal in all states and cops can't get rebuttal statements from dead wannabe rapists.

Also, money for re-location, a name change and lifelong therapy to deal with the fallout in local, national, and international media for killing some woman's baby who was the apple of her eye, harmless, misunderstood and loved by his friends, family, community, church and God.

Interesting take. Are you taking the Liberty U side saying women should shut up and take it or else?

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.3.3  mocowgirl  replied to  evilone @10.3.2    8 months ago
Interesting take. Are you taking the Liberty U side saying women should shut up and take it or else?

No.  I am stating that the entire legal system in the US is by and for men and the so-called "Liberals" need to research what is happening throughout the US legal system and make the necessary changed to protect the entire female population from male violence in our schools, in our homes, in our communities and everywhere else we live and play.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
10.3.4  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3    8 months ago

huh?

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
10.3.5  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3.3    8 months ago

What the huh?  

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
10.3.6  evilone  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3.3    8 months ago
I am stating that the entire legal system in the US is by and for men and the so-called "Liberals" need to research what is happening...

I'm pretty sure "Liberals" are aware of how biased people are. The whole "Me Too" movement was the start. It will take more than liberals to correct gender bias in humans. 

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.3.7  mocowgirl  replied to  evilone @10.3.6    8 months ago
I'm pretty sure "Liberals" are aware of how biased people are.

Would that include "Liberals" being biased?

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
10.3.8  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3.7    8 months ago

jrSmiley_80_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.3.9  mocowgirl  replied to  evilone @10.3.6    8 months ago
It will take more than liberals to correct gender bias in humans. 

Sure.  It will also take addressing the problem without the prejudice of partisanship and making it a political issue instead of the social one that it is. 

Maybe pretending that "liberal" judges and states are just as guilty of incarcerating women who fought back against their rapists and abusers would put the problem in better perspective.

Some states even have lawyers willing to fight draconian laws/mindsets in court - even in "liberal" states.

My goal is to protect all women from the US legal system that incarcerates them instead of protecting them in all 50 states.  The women are treated the same regardless whether the state (or institution) is being labeled Liberal or Conservative.

Women’s Prisons Are Filled With Domestic Violence Survivors. A New Type of Law Could Help Them Get Out. – Mother Jones

Another hurdle: Under New York’s law, the judge who originally heard a case is the one who decides whether to resentence, with full discretion to say no. “Once somebody is labeled as a murderer, prosecutors and judges have no willingness to look at a person and their history,” says Lenz of the group Survived and Punished. “Some judges have embraced reform, but there have been judges who just turned a blind eye,” adds Rosenthal, the New York attorney. One of his clients was recently denied resentencing, even though she had years of psychotherapy records documenting the abuse she suffered, as well as corroborating records from child protective agencies. “If the judge doesn’t understand the dynamics of domestic violence, then the statute is going to fall on deaf ears,” Rosenthal says.

Even with evidence, adds McCarty, “there is still this larger cultural issue of people just not believing women.” At least 18 incarcerated New Yorkers who sought resentencing under the law were rejected because the judge didn’t agree with their case, according to Mogulescu, the attorney and professor at Brooklyn Law School. The prospect of being doubted again in court is enough to deter some survivors from even applying. “Many survivors had such a horrific experience when they were first prosecuted—not believed, torn apart. There’s a real hesitation to put yourself out there, to go back to that same court and seek relief,” she says.

Still, attorneys say, New York’s law is a step in the right direction. “The [resentencing] numbers aren’t as high as people would like them to be, but there are survivors getting released who would not have been released otherwise,” says Pezzell of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women. Reform advocates in Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, and New Jersey are among those who have reached out to New York attorneys for advice about trying to pass similar laws.

In Oklahoma, the attorneys working with Wilkens, the woman serving time for killing her ex-fiance, have found at least one lawmaker who might help them do the same. State Rep.   Toni Hasenbeck, a Republican, has agreed to carry an interim study on the issue of resentencing for domestic violence survivors in the state. If the study goes well, the goal would be to introduce a bill early next year.
 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
10.3.10  Tessylo  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3.9    8 months ago

Why don't you run for the Senate?

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
10.3.11  evilone  replied to  mocowgirl @10.3.7    8 months ago
Would that include "Liberals" being biased?

Perhaps you should ask a liberal?

 
 
 
mocowgirl
Professor Quiet
10.4  mocowgirl  replied to  evilone @10    8 months ago
I think its past time we start teaching our daughters and grand daughters to carry.

This is an example of what happens to women who fight back against their abusers in the US.

Woman Abuse Survivors Sent to Prison for Self-Defense | Prison Legal News

Loaded on  JULY 1, 2021   by   Keith Sanders   published in Prison Legal News   July, 2021 , page 34

Filed under:   Domestic Violence . Location:   United States of America .
America’s criminal justice system is designed by and for men. It characterizes offenders as violent and victims docile, where offenders kill and victims die. Within this framework, women are often marginalized and unjustly prosecuted, especially victims of domestic violence who fend off their attackers with deadly force.

In this instance, women are not treated as victims of abuse defending themselves but as criminals. Of course in some cases, abusive women kill their partners or family members and claim to have done so in self defense and the dead person cannot contradict those claims.

Part of the problem, according to investigative journalist Justine van der Leun, writing for   The New Republic   (TNR), is that the criminal justice system strips away the context and circumstances surrounding such crimes, leaving only a conviction that does not tell the whole story. In 2018, van der Leun started a project to provide that context and tell the complete stories of battered girls and women who are serving time as a result of their victimhood being criminalized.

Van der Leun’s project began ambitiously enough. She sent out 5,098 surveys to women in 45 state detention facilities in 22 states. But for various reasons associated with incarceration—mail­room censorship, fear of retaliation, legal concerns—only 608 women responded to van der Leun’s survey. Yet from this relatively small sample, the journalist discovered hundreds of victims of abuse, and potentially many more, who were convicted of murder or manslaughter and claimed it was in the course of protecting themselves from an abuser.

With assistance from Thania Sanchez, who currently works in the ACLU’s data and analysis department, van der Leun devised a 16-question survey assessing a woman’s background of abuse and the reasons for entering the criminal justice system.

The surveys revealed that many of the respondents endured years of systematic abuse. Over 60% reported physical, sexual, emotional or some combination of abuse prior to incarceration. Van der Leun believes that percentage could be much higher because 31% of respondents did not provide sufficient information to make a clear determination. Much of the abuse they encountered came from domestic partners: 43% said they were abused by their spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend; and of those, 41% subsequently killed their abusers while claiming to be protecting themselves.

Van der Leun found that the respondents mirror the female incarcerated population as a whole: a majority were white but there was a disproportionate number of women of color. Their average age was 43; about 30% were serving life sentences—some without possibility of parole—with the rest serving an average of 55 years.

Abusive relationships, especially during the formative years of childhood, can adversely shape a woman’s future. Many of van der Leun’s respondents were abandoned or neglected as children. But the trauma of rape proved the most debilitating. The respondents reported being raped at gunpoint, while driven home from babysitting, and raped by grandfathers, fathers, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, and even mothers and sisters. Years of such abuse, along with a confluence of other factors beyond their control, can leave victims of abuse feeling ruined from ever getting a chance at life. “The stigma and shame of allowing myself to continually accept abusive behavior is stronger than the shame of being a convicted murderer,” recounted Kwaneta Harris, a respondent from Texas.

In many states, the legal system does not allow for “duress” as a valid defense. Based on British common law from the 1600s, the legal principle robs individuals of acting in self-defense, especially when it entails the death of a violent or abusive attacker. This leaves battered women in a no-win situation. Their only choice is to die at the hands of their abuser or prison, according to Carol Jacobsen, director of the Michigan Women’s Justice and Clemency Project. “That’s it. It doesn’t matter that he’s going to kill you.... You let that happen,” she said. In the past twenty years many states have amended their laws to allow victims of domestic abuse to present a battered person defense at trial.

Victims of abuse face other legal obstacles, too. Emotional abuse, because it is an extremely personal experience, is almost impossible to prove in court. “Lawyers say that the only correct battered woman when talking about self-defense is a dead one,” remarked Sue Osthoff, co-founder of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women. Moreover, prosecutors often portray female killers, even in self-defense cases, as cunning, posing as a victim to avoid punishment. It is of course possible that having killed someone, the defendant claims to have been battered to seek justification for the killing whether or not it was justified and it is not known how many batterers claim to be victims. In theory, the jury system is designed to sort these claims out and determine if homicides are self-defense or justifiable or criminal actions to be punished.

The reality is different. Over half of van der Leun’s respondents pleaded guilty to murder or manslaughter and received lengthy prison sentences. They did not allow a jury to weight o truth, or untruth, of their self-defense claims. The investigative journalist’s research found that most of those who plead guilty were represented by public defenders. A sobering 2008 report by the National Legal Aid Defender Association on Michigan’s indigent defense systems—where the majority of van der Leun’s respondents passed through—“studied sample counties and found none of their public defender services were constitutionally adequate.”

Van der Leun hopes that telling the respondents’ stories and having their voices heard can affect change in how victims of abuse are treated in the criminal justice system. The respondents themselves offered a variety of solutions, from decriminalizing poverty to protecting sexual and domestic violence victims to restorative justice initiatives. They want to put an end to the practice of criminalizing self-defense for battered women, for making survival a crime. 
 
 

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