We Believe Ford

• I work in D.C. and rode my bicycle to The Mall on Thu., Oct 4, 2018 at lunch time for a political rally. There were protestors carrying signs such as "We Believe Ford". OK, fine, they believe Ford -- but -- a problem with some in the #MeToo movement is that "We Believe Ford" continues "therefore, Kavanaugh is guilty because he has been accused." Not so fast. That thought process can be unfairly detrimental to the accused and I wonder if the protestors who are of that opinion would be ok applying that same standard to the male loved ones in their lives. I hope not. If so, what we now have is a War On Men.
  
  
• No, women should not be automatically believed, nor automatically disbelieved. Women claiming sexual assault should be taken seriously, and they are. Once a claim is made, investigations, warrants, arrests, indictments, trials and sentencing go forward or not based on evidence, testimony, outcomes of court proceedings, etc. It's called due process.
  
  
• Thankfully, I am not the only one who believes that women should not be automatically believed. An organization called The Innocence Project was formed in 1992, in part, for this very reason -- women being believed.
  
  
• Those working with The Innocence Project have the audacity to believe that DNA evidence should trump a woman's sworn testimony in cases of sexual assault, even though
  • she sat in a witness stand
  • pointed her finger at a man seated at the defense table
  • tearfully accused him of rape
  • and a jury, finding her testimony credible, found him guilty.
  
  

  A. B. Butler served 17 years in prison for a rape he apparently did not commit. Former President George W. Bush, then Gov. of Texas, deciding NOT to believe Butler's accuser, pardoned Butler after DNA testing of evidence proved his innocence. Imagine serving 17 years in prison -- because a woman was believed.

  
  
• The problem for these men wasn't that women weren't being heard nor believed. Their problem was, they were. Here are a just a few cases worth reading:
  
  

  Falsely Accused	Number of Years Incarcerated
  A. B. Butler	17
  Steven Avery	19
  Angel Gonzalez	20
  Joseph Abbitt	14

  
  
• Feel free to visit The Innocence Project's web site for more -- LOTS more.

 

 

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Protestors on The Mall, Washington, D.C., Thu. Oct 4, 2018
"WOMEN MUST BE HEARD" the poster reads.
I was there -- no one was attempting to silence them.

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Believe Women?
Sometimes, Yes.
Sometimes, No.
The Innocence Project