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Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, January 1, 2016; News Roundup
Topic Started: Jan 1 2016, 05:23 AM (86 Views)
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/support-bill-cosby-sexual-assault-charge-article-1.2482030


Bill Cosby 'truthers' continue to support comedian despite sexual assault charge, accusations
BY Peter Sblendorio
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, December 31, 2015, 3:42 PM

Bill Cosby still has a horde of supporters, even after he was charged with sexual assault for the first time on Wednesday following dozens of women’s claims that he attacked them.

To these Bill Cosby supporters, the proof's in the pudding: There just isn't enough evidence against the comedian.

A horde of "truthers" continue to back the fallen funnyman — even after he was hit with his first sexual assault charge on Wednesday after roughly 60 separate accusations from women claiming he attacked them over the course of several decades.

Nearly 1,500 Facebook users have flocked to a page titled "We Stand with Cosby" in support of the disgraced comedian — with many of them posting daily in a brazen show of solidarity.

The page's creator, who requested to go unnamed, told the Daily News he started the online forum to defend Cosby, who he considers innocent until proven guilty, while also drawing a connection to Rolling Stone's 2014 UVA rape case story, which was proven to be false after being published.

"When you have someone famous like Cosby, and (his case is) getting all types of media attention, it's not surprising that all of these people are coming out of the woodworks (with accusations)," he told The News.

The 78-year-old Cosby was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting an employee at Temple University, his alma mater, in 2004. His public image, however, was tarnished long before as dozens of women, mostly over the past year, have accused the comedian of similar crimes.

But the "We Stand with Cosby" page creator believes the general public should question these women's credibility because they waited years, some of them decades, to come forward with their claims.

"What is the probability that all 40 or 50 women who were raped would not tell anyone (for years), wouldn't go to the police and would continue dating this person?" he asked.

He added: "The probability of that happening is extremely low."

And the creator is far from alone in this unpopular way of thinking, as numerous members of his Facebook page shared a similar sentiment.

"No woman in her right mind would let a man sexually assault her and wait almost 12 years to move on it," wrote Denise Schools Martin on the page. "I truly believe they are a bunch of money hungry women who have jumped on the band wagon."

A throng of supporters have also rushed to Twitter to defend the former "Cosby Show" star, including George Dantzler, who told the Daily News Cosby was an "easy target" for women seeking attention.

"He has millions of dollars and is one of the greatest comedians/entertainers of all time," Dantzler said. "With money comes women. If he honestly wanted to have sex he could just pay for it. I don't think he would need to slip something into a drink."

Bill Cosby was released on $1 billion bail following Wednesday’s arraignment.

More than 3,800 people, meanwhile, have joined another Facebook page called "Bill Cosby is innocent until proven guilty," where 58-year-old Bay Area resident Reisa Elmore frequently posts lengthy comments in support of the comedian.

Elmore told The Daily Beast that Cosby's once-beloved name has been destroyed in part by attorney Gloria Allred, who represents more than 20 of the Cosby accusers.

"I think he's been railroaded and that Gloria Allred and her ilk are trying to shake him down for money," Elmore told the website.

Cosby was released on $1 million bail on Wednesday — but he faces up to 10 years behind bars if he's convicted.
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http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/12/31/sam-ukwuachus-sexual-assault-victim-settles-with-baylor/

Associated Press
Sam Ukwuachu’s sexual assault victim settles with Baylor
By John TaylorDec 31, 2015, 6:46 PM EST

The attorney for a former Baylor women’s soccer player has confirmed to multiple media outlets that has client has reached a settlement with Baylor University.

In August of this year, former Bears football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting the victim in October of 2013 following BU’s Homecoming win over Iowa State. Ukwuachu was listed on the roster as a member of the football program at the time, even as he never played a down for the Bears.

Terms of the settlement were not divulged by the victim’s attorney, prominent Title IX lawyer Jon Clune.

“All I can say is that the matter has been satisfactorily resolved,” Clune told the Dallas Morning News.

The Morning News added that no lawsuit was filed in connection to the case, although that was the direction the situation was headed prior to the settlement.

Ukwuachu transferred to Baylor in May of 2013 after being dismissed by Boise State, ultimately being found guilty of committing a rape just five months after getting on campus. It surfaced during the rape trial that, while at Boise, Ukwuachu was involved in at least one episode of violence involving his then-girlfriend, which some have surmised triggered his dismissal by BSU.

BU head coach Art Briles claimed that his then-counterpart at Boise, Chris Petersen, “did not disclose that there had been violence toward women, but he did tell me of a rocky relationship with his girlfriend which contributed to his depression.” Petersen countered that, in the phone conversation described by the BU head coach, he “thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding Sam’s disciplinary record and dismissal.”

Petersen’s statement never mentioned specifically whether or not violence was discussed between the two coaches; in fact, Boise released a statement in the aftermath of the dispute that “Ukwuachu’s dismissal from the Boise State football team had nothing to do with accusations of any sexual assaults or with accusations that he physically assaulted any women.” Because of the speculation surrounding Ukwuachu, then-Florida head coach Will Muschamp reportedly “wouldn’t touch” the talented defensive lineman after his dismissal by the Broncos.

Despite the allegations of sexual assault and a police investigation into them, BU defensive coordinator Phil Bennett sounded very confident this past June that, for whatever reason, the end would be eligible to play for the Bears in 2015.

“Ukwuachu is a guy we’re expecting to be back,” Phil Bennett said of the former Freshman All-American. “We expect him to be eligible in July. That gives us probably five or six guys we can play at end.”

Two months later, Ukwuachu was convicted of sexual assault.

Baylor has been roundly criticized for their handling of the situation in general and Ukwuachu specifically, which likely triggered a settlement that avoided a Title IX lawsuit by the victim. A federal Title IX investigation, however, is another matter entirely.
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https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/31/makers-of-the-hunting-ground-are-in-deni


Makers of The Hunting Ground Are in Denial About Their Film’s Flaws
'There is no controversy'

Robby Soave|Dec. 31, 2015 4:43 pm

The Hunting Ground“There is no controversy.” This lengthy interview with The Hunting Ground producers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick could be distilled to that one line—a line the filmmakers desperately insist upon over and over again.

The interviewer, Robert Scheer, outs himself as both an unabashed admirer of their point of view and as someone who doesn’t believe what critics (at Reason, presumably) are saying about the film’s reliance on flawed statistics and dishonest sources. But he’s forced to confront the controversy—the one the filmmakers deny is a thing—anyway, not because he accepts it, but because so many other people are beginning to.

Eventually, an exasperated Ziering gave the following response:

No, I think [the film] is provocative and threatening because it puts limits on men's entitlement to a woman's body. Honestly, profoundly and deep down, it's when you said -- you know, it's interesting; we didn't get the same backlash with the military that we've gotten with this film. And when you look at why is that, or if you, you know, sort of dig deep and question, the military -- the critique is of a male population in the military, whereas the critique of our film is of a white, middle-class or upper-class, privileged male population. And so now you're seeing, suddenly it's a controversy; suddenly there's a problem with the statistics. No problem with statistics when it's about serial predators in the military. Suddenly now there's, you know, a fake -- you know, and this whole even -- I'm so irritated, like really, we're spending 40 minutes talking about a controversy? There's no controversy. It's like talking about climate change and controversy right now. It's exactly analogous. But what you're hearing is this backlash because there's a threat to the dominant white male power. That's the deep-down thing, and that's why all these sort of crazy, hysterical articles; that's why a crazy reaction from Harvard Law professors; this is nothing -- all we have is a film in which people are going forward to report a crime, and most of the time they're only going forward to report a crime because someone committed it to someone else! So this is not about any kind of glory -- I wish -- I've got better things to do with my time than run around talking about fake [accusations]! This is happening, it's a horrible thing; there's no controversy; let's just get busy worrying about the problem!

Emphasis mine. Is it any wonder a documentary filmmaker with that perspective produced something so one-sided?

Meanwhile, Variety’s Ella Taylor put The Hunting Ground on her “empty prestige” list for 2015:

Speaking of shoddy journalism, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has succumbed without a murmur to “The Hunting Ground,” placing on its documentary feature shortlist a loaded piece of agitprop that plays fast and loose with statistics and our sympathy with victims of campus sexual assault. With death-defying leaps of logic on the basis of skimpy and distorted evidence, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s film does violence to both the legitimate fight for women’s rights and the honorable cause of advocacy filmmaking.

I guess Taylor is just doing her part to defend white male dominance—alongside Emily Yoffe, Jeannie Suk, Martha MacCallum, Ashe Schow, and all the other influential women who don’t completely buy The Hunting Ground’s narrative.
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/12/31/the_cosby_case_raises_important_questions_on_how_states_define_sexual_assault.html

The Cosby Case Raises Important Questions on How States Define Sexual Assault
By Deborah Tuerkheimer

Yesterday’s filing of sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby provides a decent preview of what a trial would likely entail. According to the complaint, Cosby drugged his victim before fondling and digitally penetrating her. The woman, Andrea Constand, recalls that, shortly after consuming the drugs and alcohol, her legs became “rubbery” and “like jelly”; her vision became “blurry”; she felt “nauseous” and she was “in and out.” While Cosby was touching her, she was “frozen” and “paralyzed,” unable to move or speak.

The complaint also describes Cosby’s version of events. In a statement to police and later at a civil deposition, he admitted to providing Constand drugs (Benadryl, he told investigators). He also acknowledged engaging in the sex acts in question, but nevertheless claimed that Constand consented, since she never told him to stop or pushed him away.

Cosby’s fame, and the number of women who have come forward to relate similar experiences of victimization, make this case unusual. But the sexual assault of a person impaired by intoxicants is hardly uncommon. According to a 2010 survey published by the CDC, 8 percent of women in the U.S. haveexperienced alcohol or drug-facilitated sexual assault. These cases raise important questions about how the law defines rape.

More than half of U.S. states still define rape in terms of use of physical force. In these jurisdictions, an alleged victim’s lack of consent alone does not mean she was raped. (The Model Penal Code, which is designed to influence state legislatures, also falls into the “force required” category, although this may be changing.) Many states, including Massachusetts, Illinois, and California, expressly require force as an element of the crime, while others define rape as sex without consent, but then include force as a component of non-consent. In Pennsylvania, “aggravated indecent assault,” with which Cosby is charged, outlaws penetration without the complainant’s consent. But rape—the more serious crime involving sexual intercourse—does not include a similar provision. While intercourse with an unconscious person and intercourse after administering drugs to prevent resistance are both considered rape, as a general proposition, intercourse without consent is not. “Forcible compulsion,” it should be said, is defined more expansively in Pennsylvania than in most states, which continue to adhere to a view of force as purely physical. And remarkably, in a handful of states, the use of significant physical force is required.

Compare this rather retrograde understanding to one that, in this past year, has ascended in colleges and universities around the country. On an estimated 1,500 campuses, rape is now defined not by force but by the absence of affirmatively expressed consent. For example, Yale’s definition of consent requires “positive, unambiguous, voluntary agreement at every point during a sexual encounter—the presence of an unequivocal ‘yes’ (verbal or otherwise), not just the absence of a ‘no.’” Similarly, at the University of Iowa, “consent must be freely and affirmatively communicated between both partners in order to participate in sexual activity or behavior. It can be expressed either by words or clear, unambiguous actions . . . Silence, lack of protest, or no resistance does not mean consent.”

Affirmative consent standards like these have quickly become the rule on campus. Whether the criminal law should move in this same direction—or instead to insist that the victim resist, physically or verbally—remains a subject of great controversy.

As lawmakers consider this option, it bears notice that a small number of states, including New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Vermont, have for decades required affirmative consent. In a recent paper, I surveyed the cases that have arisen in these states. I found that they tend to involve a passive victim: one who is either sleeping, fearful, or extremely intoxicated. Overall, the facts of these cases do not suggest a problem of “mixed signals”—an oft-cited basis for opposition to codifying affirmative consent. Indeed the cases tend to involve predatory behavior, not confusion. What we do see in the affirmative-consent jurisdictions is a formalized understanding that is—or is becoming—uncontroversial: a victim who is unconscious, sleeping, or immobilized by fright does not consent to intercourse simply by virtue of not resisting.

By her own account, Andrea Constand was passive. She could not move, could not see clearly, could not fully grasp what was happening to her. She did not express her non-consent. This fact was not lost on Bill Cosby. In his civil deposition, he explained his behavior as follows: “I don't hear her say anything. And I don't feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped.”

Stripped of its more sensational facts, the Cosby case presents a scenario that will continue to recur: an individual who is “not stopped” and feels entitled to proceed. Whether the law endorses this behavior—that is, whether passivity is equated with consent or with its absence—is of tremendous importance.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor of law at Northwestern, is a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan who has written widely on rape and domestic violence. Her new book is Flawed Convictions: “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the Inertia of Injustice.
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