Differing on matters of policy is one thing but the New Left’s presumption of guilt, at least as it applies to presumed political opponents, is despotic. It must be opposed as should be any member of the Democrat Party who condones it.
From the Wall Street Journal c/o Instapundit.
As Ms. Hill and Sen. Hirono aver, the Democratic standard for sexual-assault allegations is that they should be accepted as true merely for having been made. The accuser is assumed to be telling the truth because the accuser is a woman. The burden is on Mr. Kavanaugh to prove his innocence. If he cannot do so, then he is unfit to serve on the Court.
This turns American justice and due process upside down. The core tenet of Anglo-American law is that the burden of proof always rests with the person making the accusation. An accuser can’t doom someone’s freedom or career merely by making a charge.
The accuser has to prove the allegation in a court of law or in some other venue where the accused can challenge the facts. Otherwise we have a Jacobin system of justice in which “J’accuse” becomes the standard and anyone can be ruined on a whim or a vendetta.
Another core tenet of due process is that an accusation isn’t any more or less credible because of the gender, race, religion or ethnicity of who makes it. A woman can lie, as the Duke lacrosse players will tell you. Ms. Hirono’s standard of credibility by gender would have appalled the civil-rights campaigners of a half century ago who marched in part against Southern courts that treated the testimony of black Americans as inherently less credible than that of whites. Yet now the liberal heirs of those marchers want to impose a double standard of credibility by gender.
A third tenet of due process is the right to cross-examine an accuser. The point is to test an accuser’s facts and credibility, which is why we have an adversarial system. The denial of cross-examination is a major reason that campus panels adjudicating sexual-assault claims have become kangaroo courts.
Meanwhile, Keith Ellison has made it clear that his accusers made up accusations of abuse and (oh, by the way) that he would not be surprised if others did the same.
Fox News also reports that “Mary Zolkowski, 21, was sentenced to 45 days in jail after pleading guilty to fabricating a story about being sexually assaulted in a parking lot at Delta College.” She’s not alone.
Lying about sexual assault is as much a feature of the new culture as the Lefts presumption of guilt.
We’ve explored this topic at length. Rape is a real thing. It is violent and ugly, and it deserves to be punished. But if you scream sexual assault whenever it appears convenient, be it a political strategy or just to get attention you dilute the legitimacy of actual assaults. You hurt women. And you fundamentally undermine the rule of law, the rights of the accused, and the rights of actual victims.
It is incumbent upon everyone to accept the threat this represents.
Candidates or political parties that use these tactics, condone them, or simply refuse to object to them publicly must be kept from positions of power.
You cannot condone the use of intimidation or the threat of force (legal or extra-legal) be it to silence speech you oppose or to hijack someone’s life or career.
The accused have rights. Accusers must come forward promptly to make their case and subject their claims investigation and cross-examination.
Presumption of guilt is not acceptable nor is refusing to denounce it.
Hold your elected or would-be elected representatives accountable. Get them to publicly oppose it or publicly oppose them.
