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The Presumption of Guilt

The Presumption of Guilt

Last updated on: September 26, 2018 at 8:58 am by Dan Peterson

The Presumption of Guilt 2018-09-26T08:58:39-06:00 Dan Peterson

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In our enlightened age, Lady Justice needs to have her blindfold removed. Otherwise, how will she be able to tell whether the accused is male? Or a conservative? (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Wow. It was absurd. (Senator Spartacus of New Jersey, for example, made an utter grandstanding fool of himself.) Then it got ugly. (Senator Hirono of Hawaii came out of the closet as an enemy of due process and the presumption of innocence, at least for males and Republicans, although “Senator Hirono Didn’t Always Tell Men to ‘Shut Up’ and Believe Accusers.”) And now it’s become uglier still.

Once again, I don’t know, and I will likely never know, exactly what happened between Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh thirty six years ago — if, indeed, anything at all happened. And I don’t know, and will likely never know, exactly what Brett Kavanaugh did to Deborah Ramirez — if, as a matter of fact, he ever did anything at all.

My concern, right now, is that these accusations are terribly weak reeds on which to base the rejection of a Supreme Court nominee, let alone to publicly crucify a man and (as has already irremediably happened) to destroy his reputation forever.

Here are some examples of analysis and commentary on this case that I’ve found worthwhile. I begin with a trio that appeared before the new allegation from Deborah Ramirez. In fact, the first one (which seems eerily prophetic at this point) was published even before Christine Blasey Ford made her splash:

“The Character Assassination of Brett Kavanaugh”

“And Then There Was One . . .”

“Long-Time Friend of Christine Blasey Ford Contradicts Her on Party”

And here are a few reactions to the latest accusation, in no particular order. I recommend them all:

“Four Reasons the New Accusations Against Kavanaugh Are Weaker Than Ford’s”

“Christine Blasey Ford’s Accusation Is the Definition of a Non-Credible Sexual Assault Allegation”

“The Kavanaugh Wars aren’t Actually about Assault”

“New Kavanaugh Accuser Came Forward Because ‘Senate Democrats Came Looking’”

“Fight for Kavanaugh”

“A Festival of Bad Faith”

“NYT: Ramirez told Classmates She Wasn’t Sure Kavanaugh Exposed Himself”

“Jane Mayer: Accuser Told Ronan Farrow She Wasn’t Sure of Story”

“10 Serious Problems With New Accusations Against Kavanaugh”

“On The New Yorker’s Grossly Irresponsible Story”

Any man out there should, at this point, be concerned about how easily and casually his life, career, and reputation can be destroyed beyond repair. (Already before the claim by Ms. Ramirez became public, and despite the striking evidentiary weakness of Dr. Ford’s accusation, polling showed public opinion turning strongly against Judge Kavanaugh.) Men who are genuinely and unrepentantly guilty, of course — in the manner of, for example, Harvey Weinstein and Bill Clinton — should be afraid. They deserve to be. And those who habitually behave in offensive and oppressive ways toward women should, even if for no reason higher than self-interest, be seriously considering reform. But most men presumably don’t deserve this sort of thing, and yet they’re vulnerable to it.

However, women shouldn’t be feeling serenely indifferent to the danger. Not only because most women have a father, or a husband, or brothers, or sons, or cousins who could be swiftly destroyed in this fashion, but because, once the technique demonstrates its almost irresistible efficacy, it’s going to be deployed, mutatis mutandis, against at least some female victims, too. Just wait.

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