What Is Justice and When Is It Served?
Mark B. Baer
Educating and Helping People to Better Understand Biases, Their Impact, and How to Try and Keep Them in Check
After the judge in the Bill Cosby trial declared a mistrial, I read an article by Pat Saperstein titled Lena Dunham, Kumail Nanjiani, Alleged Victim React to Bill Cosby Mistrial that was published in Variety. I certainly wasn't physically present during that trial and my knowledge base regarding the facts and circumstances of that case is limited to that which I've read or heard in the media. I am therefore not going to state my opinion on the case itself. I do, however, have a very strong opinion with regard to the following statement issued by Lena Dunham shortly after the mistrial was announced:
" When women see justice served, their own fear & trauma are eased. When they don’t, survivors of sexual assault have to watch every day as the legal system calls them liars and denies their truth. It’s an unimaginable grind. My heart is with every survivor reliving the erasure of their own experience today."
I completely agree with Dunham's sentiment and had a very visceral reaction to it for a variety of reasons.
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CEO Global Peace Partners
7yIt would be nice if everything is so clear cut. Unfortunately we have also seen the other side of the coin where the women becomes an opportunist and expands, stretches, embellishes the claims to take control or advantage of the subject. Although we probably have one of the best justice systems, at the end of the day it comes down to which of the attorneys delivers the most compelling position. When the 4 Duke University students were accused of raping a girl - there was something off in the story and sure enough the evidence produced at great cost both financially and emotionally could not substantiate the claims of the girl. When the OJ Simpson murder case appeared on TV I turned to my wife and said "That detective is not honest" and sure enough a few months later Mark Furman was found to be dishonest. I lived in a "Church Community" later turned cult that people could gain brownie points with leadership if they hurled accusations at the accused even though it might have been a comment out of context made years earlier. This does not take away from the emotional trauma that a true victim faces. Probably the one of the surest protections are that we are sensitive enough toward our friends and relatives to feel something gone wrong when it happens and gently work with them to reveal the problem rather than it surfacing 20 - 30 years later.
Episodic TV Development / DGA Assistant Director (Retired)
7yThat is sadly very true every day in criminal and family courts.