I understand what you’re saying — that, in general, a prosecutor decides whether a case goes forward. But rape is different from most other crimes. Without the victim’s cooperation, it’s almost impossible to prove, and forcing a victim to relive the trauma through a legal process they don’t want is ethically wrong. So yes, legally the state can act on its own, but practically speaking the victim is the one who really determines whether anything can move forward.
Right now, we’re in a vicious cycle where most rape victims don’t want to come forward, in part because rape prosecutions so seldom work, and part of the reason why rape prosecutions so seldom work is because victims don’t want to come forward. And whether any particular victim’s case will be successfully prosecuted depends in part on what other victims come forward, because rapists usually rape multiple women.
What we need to do is clear: We need to fix all of the other reasons why rapes go unprosecuted, and all of the other reasons why victims don’t want to come forward (and there are plenty of both). But it’s a tough task.
And also, apparently, a guy who’s never encountered a temptation without giving in to it.
Except, you have yet to show his benefits are of the TDIU (Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability) type. Apparently they are of the “schedular” 100% rating, where you can still work and get 100% disability) . My evidence ? The trump controlled Administration hasnt indicted him. The person who handles such fraud is Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General , who was directly appointed by trump. A trump appointee. Read that again.
Because someone can be guilty as hell of one crime, but not a dozen others.
And the GOP has made up several lies about this man. Even if he is guilty of sexual assault, we owe it to debunk all MAGA lies.
Remember this is America, and people are innocent until proven guilty- and he hasnt even been charged.
What we have is a very credible accusation, which is enough to demand he withdraw. Which we are doing.
Several Senators and other leading Democrats at one time endorsed him- you think they would not have if these bogus claims of Disability Fraud were true- and a Senator can probably check on these things (but they can not release that info). But once this credible accusation of sexual assault came out- they dropped him. Not for a “nazi tattoo”, not for the bogus claims by a GOP operative, not for his sexting- but because of the credible accusation of sexual assault . They knew stuff we didnt.
I’ve talked to a friend who is a prosecutor about this actually. She claims the main reason is that it doesn’t matter what the evidence is, unless the perpetrator is some type of “undesirable” people simply do not want to convict rapists. She told me they all had at least one experience taking a sure win to trial and losing and seeing the devastation it causes the victim and they simply stop doing it. Enough people simply do not feel rape is a big enough deal to ruin the life of a “clean cut young man”. Or a US veteran in this case. Or really most men that aren’t black.
He’s out
Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, is suspending his campaign following a sexual assault allegation.
Platner announced his decision in an 11-minute video posted to social media on Wednesday evening.
“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” he said. “For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations.”
Moderating:
For those who wish to continue the discussion as this Senate race evolves, there is a new thread started here:
Maybe, but
https://www.law.virginia.edu/news/city-attorney-shares-reality-prosecuting-sexual-assault-cases
Zug said rape cases are notoriously hard to try in part because of the burden of proof; there are usually only two witnesses to the crimethe victim and the defendant…
The third defense defendants usethat the sex was consensualis the most common and the most difficult to defeat, Zug said. “I’ve never won an acquaintance rape jury trial,” he said, often because of skeptical jurists. Women jurors aged 35 and older are the toughest demographic in rape cases, Zug said. “I went a long time trying to pack cases with women [jurors]until I started talking to them.” At that point he realized older women could be tough judges of victims; in cases where the victim had something to drink (and was drunk or not), older women jurors feel that “she was putting herself in that position” while they excuse the defendant’s drinking.
Most sexual assault and domestic violence prosecutions rely on the victim’s account.[7] Simply put, the jury’s verdict is often tantamount to whether the jury finds the victim’s account credible. This is true for two reasons. First, these crimes generally do not occur in front of witnesses, nor are
they captured on video, and they rarely result in dispositive physical evidence. Second, the defense to most incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault (where the identity of the perpetrator is not at issue) is that the victim is lying.
Even jurors that don’t have a bias against sexual assault victims have issue with the he said, she said nature of such claims. Most often, there are only two witnesses to the crime: the victim and the assailant. Rape victims are often seen as unconvincing witnesses with far too many myths surrounding what a rape victim looks like or how they react…
It takes a lot of courage to come forward with such an allegation and these cases are most often delayed in reporting. While there are many reasons for a victim not to immediately report their assault, such as feeling ashamed or scared or as though it was their fault, jurors still view the delayed reporting critically. In fact, often victims don’t realize they were victim to a crime at all. Nonetheless, judges and jurors see the delay as refining a motive or an attempt to fabricate a story.
Barely moderating:
Just a suggestion, the slightest of nudges, but if we really want to do a deeper dive into general rape allegations, accusations, rules of evidence, and possible improvements on such we should spin off a new thread.
The specific details of the allegations, accusers of, responses, etc. against Platner fully belong here of course.
Yet another unforgivable failure of the Democratic oppo research engine. There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for this to be coming out now. Everything that can be discovered after the Primary can be discovered before the Primary. Get. It. Together. DNC.
This wasnt “discovered”, the victim came forward.
Thereby proving, at any rate, that he’s not a secret Republican. He could clearly have made more trouble for the Democrats by staying in.
And what would have happened if they’d released that info now? He’d have withdrawn from the race and be replaced by someone more electable, just like we’re seeing right now. Of course they were waiting until after the deadline to start attacking him.
Yeah. He’s an asshole, but he’s not a secret Republican operative.
For what it’s worth, according to my ex—who has been a rating specialist at the VA for over 20 years—TDIU ratings are pretty rare and difficult to get. They typically include paraplegics and people with ALS. It’s far more likely that Platner’s rating is a “scheduler” rating that includes PTSD. In other words, he likely has a number of claims that add up to 100%. He almost certainly does not have a TDIU rating.
He’s not a Republican yet but let’s see if he goes down the well worn Russell Brand/Louis CK path from former left wing darlings turned reactionary right wing chuds after a public sex scandal. He seems exactly the self-obsessed type to very quickly abandon his left wing “principles” as soon as it stops being of benefit to him.
oh, good grief.
It is unfortunately entirely possible for someone to be a Democrat and/or a left-winger and to still be an asshole rapist. The Republicans don’t have a monopoly on it.
No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we have two prominent examples of previously celebrated left entertainment figures now actively courting a right wing audience after they were exposed as sex pests. Add Jonathan Majors to the list as someone now doing movies for The Daily Wire after being booted from the Marvel franchise.
I’m saying it’s entirely possible that Platner a few months from now will be doing the right wing circuit and spouting right wing talking points because those are the only people willing to give him a platform anymore. It’s a prediction, not a certainty but a prediction with precedent.
I think that’s fair. I don’t think it’s a surety or even likely, but as you point out it’s certainly possible.
I, personally, hope he fades into obscurity and ends up doing something that keeps him out of the news and doesn’t hurt anyone.