10/25

Today in class we went around and discussed the books we chose for the first account rape stories. What was interesting is that nobody's book involved college athletes, most were not even college students. For my book I chose After Silence: Rape & My Journey by Nancy Raine.

Raine's story is one of breaking the silence to rape after she dealt with rape first-hand. When Raine was thirty-nine years old, she took her trash out from her apartment, leaving her backdoor open, and allowing a stranger to sneak in as her back was turned. For the next couple hours, the stranger brutally attacked Nancy, yelling at her to "shut up" any time she tried to scream, tell him to stop, convince him not to do it, etc. These words, "shut up" now resonate with Nancy so strongly, she loathes the sound of them. For seven years, Nancy believed she had to be quiet about what happened to her, that she couldn't bring it up, that it couldn't be spoken of. Her family was afraid to talk about it, her friends were afraid to talk about it, nobody wanted to upset her. Nancy had told her dear friend's daughter about what had happened to her, as they had a very close bond. A few years later, the friend's daughter was also sexually assaulted, and Nancy's bond with her became even tighter. On the 7th anniversary of her rape, Nancy decided to begin writing how she felt everyday for the last seven years on October 11th, and when Nancy didn't know what to write anymore, she received flowers from her friend's daughter telling her she wasn't alone. Nancy then completed her article and published it, receiving a lot of feedback telling her how inspiring she was at that they had also felt silenced. Nancy then decided to go on and publish this book in hopes to stop the "unspeakableness" of rape, hoping to end the silence people must feel. Nancy wants the topic of rape to stop being such a taboo topic, and having happened in the 1980's, breaking silence in the mid 90's was tough for Nancy.

After we all discussed our books, we moved on to getting our papers back. Talking about conclusions was a big subject today, as conclusions shouldn't be the shortest paragraph in an essay, but many people make them. Things we could have included in this paper to make it longer were policy proposals, the way we think the system favors the rapist, etc.

From here we went on to discussing claims and warrants, especially alcohol being involved in rape. We discussed that alcohol doesn’t make you do things out of character; it makes you do things that are in character that you may not even know you wish to do sober. We also talked about athletes and how the star football player is typically let off easier because "they can have any woman they want because they are the star"- this is based on a woman being just for sex. This is irrelevant to rape, because just since someone is a "star", that doesn't mean they are entitled to this sort of thing. Rape is often seen as something less quick to prosecute, as it becomes a "he said-she said" case.

Even with advanced technology that we can get finger prints off of someone, it can be hard to use in rape cases. Many rape victims go home and shower right away because they are in denial. If someone goes straight to the hospital and has a rape kit done, they have loads of evidence. Now, you can get evidence even up to 5-7 days after the even, although it becomes less likely. The process is long and involved, takes 4-6 hours, they take your clothes, you have to answer tons of questions, people coming in and out to take samples, etc. It is embarrassing, it is violating, and it is a tough, long process. This is one of the reasons why many people don't do it.

Today our discussion went to various places, but touched on rather important matters.

10/20

Today in class we went through and did our TED talks, so once again, there isn't really much to say as I have already reported on what everyone was reading and discussing.

As we went around, it was interesting to see the amount of variety in people's cases. Cases ranged from University athletic rape cases (like in Missoula), to caretakers raping disabled, to strangers on the street raping someone. All in all, it goes to show that the cases in Missoula are not the only type of rape cases, and that rape can truly happen to anybody, anywhere.

The rhetoric discussing rape is such an issue in America, and that is what I truly got out of these cases. It seemed like all of these cases had victim blaming, and most of them had little to no punishment for the offender. It is absolutely sickening that a crime this heinous is less punishable than something like robbery. A crime that ruins somebody's life, and leaves victims with things like PTSD is seen as minuscule in so many courtrooms around America.

All of these cases had one thing in common: people rape because they are rapists, not because the victim was asking for it, not because they thought it was okay, but because they are rapists. This epidemic plaguing America needs to be changed, and the justice system is the place to start.

10/18

Today we peer reviewed our drafts for our cases, so there isn't really much to say. There weren't many people in class, including Professor Condon, so we didn't stay very long.

I worked with Jackson, Haley, and Anna; however, Jackson was the only one to review my paper. He gave me some great feedback that will definitely help me restructure my paper to make it more interesting. Currently, it is pretty dry because it is a lot of legal jargon, which unfortunately is hard to work around because I am focusing on the law and how it relates to my case. But the advice Jackson gave me to work in my case information more with the facts, intertwining them in a way should definitely make my paper more digestible! I read Anna's, and although she wasn't completely finished, she was off to a good start! Really other than this we didn't do much...So I guess the only other thing I have to say is that I will be going home to work on my paper tonight so I can have it ready for Thursday's TED talks!

10/13

Today in class Professor Condon was absent!

David went into detail about his case first, it was about Andrew Appleton, an associate professor in political science at Washington State University. Appleton was charged with raping his niece who lived with himself and his wife. Niece was afraid to say anything because she didn't want to be kicked out of the university. This went on for about two years before his niece informed his wife who called the police. Appleton was arrested; however, as of 2015 he still worked for WSU and was on the payroll. He still lives in Moscow, ID, and was not forced to be put on the registry. Due to Appleton's tenure, he was given special treatment through the university. It is unexpected that a professor with tenure such as Appleton would do something like this, but as we have learned, it is not typically the people we expect to do these things.

Dakota went next and he had the Duke Lacrosse case. During spring break the Duke Lacrosse players threw a party and there "were no girls around" and so they hired two strippers. Magnum (one of the strippers) was very drunk and on muscle relaxers, around 2 am after being harassed, the girls decided to leave. Magnum left with Roberts (the other stripper) who eventually kicked her out of the car and called the police. When they were leaving one of the players yelled out, "we wanted whites, not n*****s". Magnum picked out the guys in the police lineup, as the case went on she began changing her story, DNA tests were held back (rape kit that had no evidence - all 3 charged gave sperm samples that showed them innocent). The attorney for the case was saying it was a racially aggravated crime, he was with holding evidence that proved them innocent. State Bar charged attorney with ethics violations. All charges were eventually dismissed because Magnum was lying the entire time. Magnum had charges of impersonating a police officer and then murdered her boyfriend. The whole time Roberts was against it because she claimed there wasn't enough time for this to have occurred. At first the team was suspended for 2 games by NCAA, then President of Duke ended 2006 season early, coach was forced to resign. All 3 were temporarily suspended, 1 returned and 2 (seniors) did not return. One of the biggest false accusations, had changed the view on athletic cases. People typically stand behind the athlete just because they were student athletes and seeing that Duke players were innocent makes people think a lot of charges against athletes are false claims. We saw a lot of tropes with Magnum being referred to as a stripper and Roberts as a dancer. Because Magnum is a stripper it makes it sound more okay?

Connor's case was the Recy Taylor rape case who was abducted and robbed at gunpoint and raped by 4-7 white men on her way home from church in 1944. She was a young black woman, and the extent of the deputies search was driving her into town and checking one store, saying they couldn't find them, and giving up. Due to the time being the 1940's, the police didn't care to help a young black woman who was assaulted by white men. 65 years later, Daniel McGuire published a book and talking about her case and the lack of justice, Recy was "afraid to go out at night, to be alone, and then of life itself." It wasn't about the sex, it was about having the power over her. Rosa Parks looked into this case and investigated and she also had a near rape experience so she resonated with Recy. After the book came out, the mayor of the town where the rape had occurred issued an apology, along with the state houses of Alabama.

Today we played with the idea of race in rape cases and how it can have an effect on the rhetoric used, and how it changes the outcome. Race can play a factor in the publicity (or lack thereof) that cases get, and it can destroy or build a case. It is interesting to see the rhetoric used in rape cases involving racial issues as compared to cases without.

10/11

Today we discussed a couple more cases, including the Vanderbilt case and the Ohio State Case.
The Vanderbilt case involves a girl who was raped by a man she met at a bar, who put date-rape drugs into her drink in order to mess with her functions to be able to rape her. This man also encouraged his teammates to rape her as they documented the entire assault. These photos were shared with players on the team; however, only two of the four rapists were convicted.
Comparing this to things we have studied in class, this case fits right in, especially with Missoula. The case is on a college campus and involves college athletes, and two of the athletes get off simply because they are athletes. The attackers attempted to blame the alcohol that was involved, claiming the girl wanted it and she was so drunk and sloppy and all of the classic excuses. People even blamed the girl claiming she was a "party girl" and had "no morals" if she was out drinking, it should have been something she "expected". The rhetoric surrounding this case is so disturbing because the victim is being blamed even though she was drugged and assaulted. The athletes spreading the pictures like it was some sort of joke is even more disturbing, because they are treating this woman like some piece of meat, violating her over and over again.

The Ohio State case was also extremely disturbing, as the drum instructor of the band raped a woman who was interested in joining the band. The drum instructor took an underaged girl to a bar, got her in, got her drunk, and talked with her until she was drunk enough to take advantage of. After she was belligerent, the man took her back to his home and raped her.

This case was interesting because it was different from the classic rape case we saw on university campuses in Missoula. The man was not an athlete, he was not even a student, he was a leader and mentor who took advantage of an underaged girl who wanted to be accepted into the band. The discourse surrounding this still had issues, as they blame the girl for going to the bar with him in the first place when she knew she wasn't old enough to drink. Alcohol continuously is an issue and causes victim blaming among the public. The man was seen as some great drum leader and the media made him out to be a great person, focusing on what he did before the attack, not the attack itself. This is a huge issue in rape cases and something that needs to combatted.

10/6

Today in class Haley and Shalynn went over their cases for paper two.
Haley started with her case about the retired US Air Force General who was accused of sexual assault on another member of his squadron who was under his command. He inappropriately touched her, and penetrated her in multiple different areas. This case was the first big case that led people to look into military rape cases, and it became an issue on how to prosecute high-ranking officers such as the General. The military has it's own court system, and all military personnel are tried within this special system, including retired military such as the General Haley is focusing on. Out of all military court cases, this was one of two in which a high-ranking official was court-martialed.
Looking at victims of rape in the military, they have a couple of different options in reporting their rapes: restricted reports (which does not disclose the assailant, but seeks counseling) or an unrestricted report (reporting to CO, gives all details). Unfortunately, there is a lack of reporting cases amongst military personnel, because their fear of repercussion or ridicule. Some women have even lost their jobs in the military due to reporting assault.

Shalynn was focusing on a woman who was raped by three basketball players multiple times. This became a big case because the police officers on the case claimed there was "insufficient evidence" and charges could not be pressed; however, the university took matters into their own hands and found the players guilty, expelling them from the university. The victim decided to sue the university because the counseling she received from the university was later used as evidence against her, something that is completely illegal. HIPA and FERPA laws came into play a lot in this case because the privacy laws were violated and non-disclosure issues were not followed.

10/4

Today in class we looked at three different cases: Anna Stubblefield, Steubenville, and Jameis Winston.

In the Anna Stubblefield case, she was a professor at Rutgers accused and charged of raping DJ, a 30 year old man with the mental capacity of a toddler due to cerebral palsy. Stubblefield watched over him and claimed to his family that they were in love (even though she was married with children). Unfortunately, due to DJ's mental capacity, he was unable to give consent, and probably not understanding of the situation that was going on, considering he couldn't even complete tasks at a preschool level. Anna said she would leave her husband to create a family and home with DJ, and DJ's family couldn't stand it. They filed the suit and won, sentencing Anna to 12 years in prison.

The Steubenville rape case was a story of football players at Steubenville high school raping a young woman digitally. The young woman was completely incoherent, vomiting, and passed out. She had a crush on one of the football players and trusted him to take care of her. Many pictures, videos, and text messages were on social media and went viral, making this case so big. One photo was released of Anna being carried by her ankles and wrists by two football players as she is clearly passed out. Mays and Richmond were convicted of rape of a minor, even though they were only 16 as well. The girl had a crush on Mays, but the next day woke up with urine and semen on her, prompting her to text Mays and ask why he did this, what happened to her, and telling him she had trusted him. The case exploded by social media and anonymous even dived into helping this girl find justice. Since the girl was incapacitated it was impossible for her to give consent to Mays and Richmond fingering her. I have read about this case in classes before so it was interesting to hear more details about it.

Jameis Winston was a football player at Florida State University, charged of raping Erica Kinsman. Kinsman agreed to drop the case after FSU offered her nearly 1 million dollars. Kinsman wishes she could have told her story, but FSU had completely covered up the case and hid the facts. In the end, Kinsman's attorney got 2/3 of her settlement money and she only got 1/3. This case was completely buried and even now when searching Winston, one must scroll very far through Google to find anything relating to the rape case. The media did a great job of burying the case of the Heisman winner so he is seen as just that, an athlete, not a rapist.