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Questions about rape victims should be allowed in court
Thank you for your recent editorial, “Wesleyan Frat Wrong To Force Rape Victim ID.” You present four possible questions: “What was she wearing that night? Who was she hanging out with? How much did she have to drink? Was she flirting with people?”
You state that these questions “have no place in a court room.”
In an open court system, they seem undeniably valid and appropriate.
Steve Groninger
New Haven
Steve Groninger
New Haven
posted by Matt DeRienzo at
10:58 PM
4 Comments:
Anonymous said...
Matt DeRienzo:
So women ask for this violence to be committed against them??? G-d forbid this happens to someone in your family....how would you feel about these questions? This would only lead to women not reporting the crime and most likely have no closure of this traumatic experience. As a rape survivor I can tell you this stays with you for the rest of your life.
Please note that this is a letter to the editor not written by me. I just posted it to our site like I do with all letters. He is actually disagreeing with an editorial I wrote saying the opposite and agreeing with you.
Sometimes women lie about this.
eg Tawana Brawley.
eg Dail Mangum (Duke)
eg Wanetta Gibson (Long Beach)
Criminal defendants are entitled to question the credibility of witnesses against them, and some rape cases may well turn on whether there was or was not consent, which depends on the credibility of the witnesses and their conflicting stories.
If the defense is that this wasn't rape, but was a consensual encounter that went bad over money, evidence that the alleged victim was working as a prostitute are certainly relevant.
Mr. Groninger, can you explain how the answers to any of those questions would have any relevance to a courtroom setting? Would you make the case that the accused rapist was inflamed by lust and couldn't possibly control himself, and therefore should not be criminally liable? Is there a threshold of intoxication beyond which her consent should be implied? What is your argument as to why any of those questions should have any bearing on the case at hand? Because frankly, I can't see any way that those questions lead up to anything but the defense of "she was asking for it".
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