"Accused Men Have No Due Process Rights And Are Branded As Rapists"

[Deleted]

TLDR:
"Mattress girl" lied about being raped, is still hailed as a hero by feminists
Her innocent male victim is still branded a rapist and has his life destroyed
Meanwhile, feminists like Jessica Valenti continue to lie about the whole story
Mattress girl threatens to sue news media and use shaming tactics to prevent them telling the truth

Newsweek highlights the 'other side' of campus sexual assault debate

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ne...rticle/2578070

Newsweek has generally provided positive coverage for those insisting campus sexual assault is rampant at American colleges and universities. They've written uncritically about severely flawed studies alleging that one in three men would rape if they could get away with it (debunked here) and one in four or five women allegedly being sexually assaulted while in college (debunked here).

But on Thursday, the magazine published an article that tells the other side of the campus sexual assault debate — the side where accused men (and a couple of women) have no due process rights and are branded as rapists without being able to properly defend themselves.

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Newsweek's Max Kutner told the story of Paul Nungesser, who was accused of raping mattress-toter Emma Sulkowicz and of other sexual misconduct by some of her friends. In each instance, Nungesser was cleared of wrongdoing (including one accusation that was less plausible than Sulkowicz's). He was even interviewed by police in relation to Sulkowicz's accusation, but the investigation went no further.

Nungesser — who is today a free and innocent man in the eyes of the law and his former university — has nonetheless been branded a rapist by Sulkowicz and those in the media who promoted her performance art project, whereby she carried a mattress around for months to try and get the man she accused off campus.

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Newsweek spoke with Nungesser's parents about attending his Columbia University graduation knowing the school had been praising his accuser.

"It was like a slap in the face," his father, Andreas Probosch, said of the keynote speaker's address to students to keep being activists. The speaker specifically mentioned Sulkowicz's mattress project. Probosch said he had worried he and Nungesser's mother would be recognized and wondered if other students and parents would "spit in front" of them.

Nungesser's mother Karin said she wanted to go up to the other parents and tell them: "I am the mother of Paul, and I am very proud of my son, and I hope you discuss with your sons and daughters what they did to him."

Nungesser had filed a lawsuit against Columbia for its promotion and acceptance of Sulkowicz's mattress project even though he was innocent. He amended the lawsuit in July to include Columbia's disregard for its stated rules that no large objects could be carried on stage, yet the school didn't stop Sulkowicz and four of her friends from carrying her mattress across the stage at graduation.

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Nungesser told Newsweek that Sulkowicz's accusation that he punched her, choked her and held her down while she screamed was "a huge shock, and a whole world for me broke apart."

After Nungesser's name was printed in the school newspaper and he became nationally known and branded a rapist in the court of public opinion, his parents began emailing school administrators.

"We have just learned that our son was ambushed outside his residence by two reporters," said one email.

"Do we have to wait until Paul is beaten up, severely wounded or even killed?" said another.

"We just talked to Paul on the phone and found him devastated, depressed and without any support" they wrote in another.

"We feel that his well-being is seriously in danger," another email said.

"You are again massively worsening our son's situation" said yet another.

Columbia responded to these emails with boilerplate insistence that the school "takes these matters extremely seriously," yet never did anything to protect one of its students.

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After Sulkowicz launched her art project and became a media darling, Nungesser sent an email to Columbia administrators.

"I said, 'There is someone apparently doing a school-sponsored project about getting me either bullied or expelled. This can't be going on. You should be doing something about it. I'm not feeling safe. This is against school regulation.'" Nungesser said. "And I was just completely — yeah, ignored is not even strong enough" a word for how little the school seemed to care about his situation." (Emphasis original.)

When Newsweek reached out to Sulkowicz for comment, she threatened to sue them for telling Nungesser's side of the story (which is partially backed up by Facebook posts provided in his lawsuit).

"Paul Nungesser's complaint is filled with lies," Sulkowicz told Newsweek. "I want to warn you to be conscientious about what you publish as 'fact' for I may work with a lawyer to rectify any inaccuracies and misrepresentations."

Why she hasn't done so already in the time since Nungesser first told his side of the story, is a mystery.

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Newsweek also tells the story of several other men who have been accused but who paint a much different picture of what occurred during the alleged rape. For one accused student, S. Tim Yusuf, the accusation against him in 1992 paved the way for a landmark court case cited by many accused students now.

Yusuf had been accused of sexual harassment, but was able to provide evidence that he wasn't anywhere near his accuser at the time of the alleged incident. The school didn't allow him to submit that evidence and suspended him for one semester. Twenty years later, and schools are still refusing accused students the ability to provide evidence in their defense, or if it is allowed, that evidence is then twisted as evidence of wrongdoing.

Newsweek also spoke to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's Samantha Harris, who suggested that previously, women who made sexual assault accusations were not taken seriously, but that now, "a growing number of people are starting to be concerned that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction."

Brett Sokolow, who works with two groups that consult with schools on how to adjudicate Title IX (the anti-gender discrimination law) accusations, also criticized the Education Department, which forced schools to adjudicate sexual assault by way of disciplinary hearings by way of a "Dear Colleague" letter.

"I think probably a lot of colleges translated the 'Dear Colleague' letter as 'favor the victim,'" Sokolow said. "We very quietly started to say to our clients. ... Don't overcorrect on this because it will touch off a spate of litigation by accused individuals."

Sokolow also said that men bringing lawsuits against their universities haven't been successful in the courtroom in recent years, due in part to schools settling out of court so that the cases don't create legal precedents.

"I don't think a Title IX lawsuit against a college or university by anybody is going to go to trial because higher ed won't let it, because the attorneys and the insurance companies will settle these cases to make sure that that precedent is never set," Sokolow said. "You're going to have to find a plaintiff, whether they're an accused student or a victim, who refuses a settlement, no matter what it is, and insists on their day in court, which is a very expensive thing to do."

Newsweek also points out that at least 90 male students have filed lawsuits against their schools after being accused of sexual assault. Many of the claims include breach of contract and the denial of due process, but many now are also including claims of bias against men.

Nungesser's lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg, told Newsweek that eventually the tide may turn for accused male students.

"The courts are going to have to see enough of these that there is a sense across the country that, 'Wait, this is coming up too much, there really must be something wrong.'"

This issue will have to be settled in courts, as it appears campus administrators are not open to the suggestion that men are being wrongly punished. At an October seminar for Title IX administrators, one lawyer who has defended accused students suggested that it is unfair to punish only one drunk student for sexual misconduct, because both drunk students are "frankly raping each other." The audience, according to Newsweek, "bristled" and two other lawyers had to calm them down.

The lawyer who made the comment, Justin Dillon, was not surprised by the reaction, and said that schools are too afraid now to suggest that an accusing student simply regretted an encounter and wasn't, in fact, sexually assaulted.

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Newsweek continues to tout highly questionable studies on this topic, showing, for example, that 20 percent or 25 percent of women being sexually assaulted in college, without even suggesting those studies are controversial. Still, the magazine did something good by addressing this issue, although I suspect this is the last we will hear of it within its pages.

[Spiffums]

Regret sex equals a loss of due process.

[Dextroden]

Wait. She tried to sue to keep his story quiet?

Can Sulkowicz just burst into flames? For the good of humanity?

[Endus]

"Due process" only applies to court action; unless guys are being declared guilty sans trial or defense in criminal court, they still have due process.

If you're complaining that the accusation is harmful, then you're going to have to explain how you justify restricting the freedom of the press, because thats the ONLY way to stop the press reporting on the accusation.

If you're complaining that its unfair that private entities can react as they wish to such an accusation, you'll have to justify THAT restriction on people's rights.

I'm not saying its good for the mob to tar and feather someone over a baseless accusation, but the only way to prevent that is to harshly restrict people's freedoms, which I can't support.

[Dextroden]

"Due process" only applies to court action; unless guys are being declared guilty sans trial or defense in criminal court, they still have due process.

If you're complaining that the accusation is harmful, then you're going to have to explain how you justify restricting the freedom of the press, because thats the ONLY way to stop the press reporting on the accusation.

If you're complaining that its unfair that private entities can react as they wish to such an accusation, you'll have to justify THAT restriction on people's rights.

I'm not saying its good for the mob to tar and feather someone over a baseless accusation, but the only way to prevent that is to harshly restrict people's freedoms, which I can't support.

Until someone runs a slander campaign on a woman. Then the rules will be changed to restrict such actions.

[Hraklea]

If you're complaining that its unfair that private entities can react as they wish to such an accusation, you'll have to justify THAT restriction on people's rights.

According to Nungesser, "there is [...] a school-sponsored project about getting me either bullied or expelled [...] this is against school regulation."

[Theodarzna]

"Due process" only applies to court action; unless guys are being declared guilty sans trial or defense in criminal court, they still have due process.

If you're complaining that the accusation is harmful, then you're going to have to explain how you justify restricting the freedom of the press, because thats the ONLY way to stop the press reporting on the accusation.

If you're complaining that its unfair that private entities can react as they wish to such an accusation, you'll have to justify THAT restriction on people's rights.

I'm not saying its good for the mob to tar and feather someone over a baseless accusation, but the only way to prevent that is to harshly restrict people's freedoms, which I can't support.

Ah, so its Might makes Right and rule by the powerful and popular?

[Donald Hellscream]

She is clearly trying to cover something up, she is probably full of shit.
I mean if he really raped her why in the fuck would his side of the story even matter? Of course if she is a lying sack of shit his story might just uncover that and her campaign of being a fucking cunt will be over.

[BuckSparkles]

Is it Trump and Feminism Friday? So many topics today :3

[Dextroden]

Is it Trump and Feminism Friday? So many topics today :3

Trump day is everyday, man.

[nextormento]

I'm not saying its good for the mob to tar and feather someone over a baseless accusation, but the only way to prevent that is to harshly restrict people's freedoms, which I can't support.

Might makes right.
Would you say that your failure to criticize the mob is endorsement of their actions?.

[Endus]

Until someone runs a slander campaign on a woman. Then the rules will be changed to restrict such actions.

As long as we're inventing fantasies, I call dibs on introducing Quidditch to Narnia.

According to Nungesser, "there is [...] a school-sponsored project about getting me either bullied or expelled [...] this is against school regulation."

I seriously doubt it's sponsored by the school. If it were, I'd take issue, but this just sounds like hyperbole.

Ah, so its Might makes Right and rule by the powerful and popular?

Literally the opposite of what I said, which was backing individual rights and freedoms.

- - - Updated - - -

Might makes right.
Would you say that your failure to criticize the mob is endorsement of their actions?.

I literally just did criticize that mob.

[nextormento]

I literally just did criticize that mob.

You literally shrugged it off: at least it's not illegal!
Ultimate defeat.

[Dextroden]

As long as we're inventing fantasies, I call dibs on introducing Quidditch to Narnia.



I seriously doubt it's sponsored by the school. If it were, I'd take issue, but this just sounds like hyperbole.



Literally the opposite of what I said, which was backing individual rights and freedoms.

- - - Updated - - -


I literally just did criticize that mob.

Hahaha. Yeah, that's why they're trying to dismiss the lawsuit. Because they did nothing wrong, Endus.

[Hraklea]

I seriously doubt it's sponsored by the school. If it were, I'd take issue, but this just sounds like hyperbole.

I agree that "sponsored" is a strong word here, but I can see the school negligence towards the bully campaign against him as "against school regulation". I don't believe there's any school that endorses bullying...

[Dextroden]

I agree that "sponsored" is a strong word here, but I can see the school negligence towards the bully campaign against him as "against school regulation". I don't believe there's any school that endorses bullying...

What about a professor telling her she could do the campaign for a grade?

[Endus]

You literally shrugged it off: at least it's not illegal!
Ultimate defeat.

No, I accepted the reality that people being free to act as they wish means that some will behave like bags of dicks. This is unfortunate, but the only alternative is criminalizing that behaviour and restricting their rights.

If you have a problem with their speech and what they advocate, speak out. The correct response to speech you dislike is speech, not trying to deny their rights.

[Dextroden]

No, I accepted the reality that people being free to act as they wish means that some will behave like bags of dicks. This is unfortunate, but the only alternative is criminalizing that behaviour and restricting their rights.

If you have a problem with their speech and what they advocate, speak out. The correct response to speech you dislike is speech, not trying to deny their rights.

Some people are assholes, so slander is fine.

Got it.

[Moralgy]

I'm getting pretty good at the "who is the OP" game these days!

People will judge anyone before due process. It sucks for anyone accused of anything, but changing that part of the equation will be very difficult since you can't control what people think. Just look at something like the george zimmerman trial for example. Both sides had pre-judged him as innocent or guilty days after it happened and very few were sitting around thinking "maybe I should wait for the evidence.

rip post 20

[Theodarzna]

Literally the opposite of what I said, which was backing individual rights and freedoms.

You are very good at branding and PR, I'll give you that.