The Next Wave of the #MeToo & #Times Up Movements...Will Be in Court
As Americans across the country have sat riveted to their television sets over the past few weeks watching the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, beyond the key take-away’s outlined by national media outlets, there has been an ominous reminder to the proceedings: we are entering an era when key decisions about how far Americans’ personal rights will progress will lay in the hands of attorneys and judges who make up the current U.S. court system.
Although Democrats attempted to grill the former Notre Dame law professor on her views, she was successful in strategically remaining evasive on incredibly important issues such as abortion, the Affordable Care Act, climate change and a potentially contested election in November. Even when pressed, she offered very few hints about how she would vote on these matters that are already before the Supreme Court or may make their way there soon in the coming years.
Through the testimony of witnesses, Americans were given a window view into how a judge such as Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation could impact their daily lives and personal rights. Crystal Good detailed how she fought in court for an abortion at age 16. Stacy Staggs, the mother of seven-year-old twins with pre-existing conditions, testified about the importance to her family of the Affordable Care Act.
For those of us on the front lines of the #MeToo and #TimesUp Movements, it is clear that the second wave of this movement will take place in court. Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse scandal goes bi-coastal soon with Los Angeles prosecutors having started the process of extraditing Weinstein to face charges in a second trial in California. (Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York being found guilty of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act earlier this year). Ghislaine Maxwell awaits trial in her Brooklyn, New York, prison cel on charges related to sex trafficking of minors and perjury involving the sex-trafficking operation she allegedly ran with the late Jeffrey Epstein that catered to rich and powerful men. With these examples, we see the pivotal role attorneys play as they decide to take up these cases and press charges, and of judges as they make impactful rulings.
Writer Chanel Miller sparked national discussion about the disparate treatment of sexual assault cases and victims by college campuses and court systems. She has spoken out about her painful experience in the U.S. court system after she was sexually assaulted on the campus of Stanford University by Brock Allen Turner in 2015, and then maligned in the court proceedings. Miller’s victim impact statement, which she wrote and read at her assailant’s sentencing hearing, went viral after it was published online by “Buzzfeed” and read 11 million times within four days. Miller was referred to as “Emily Doe” in court documents and media reports until September 2019, when she relinquished her anonymity and released her memoir “Know My Name,” which went on to win the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award in the Autobiography category.
It is not enough for victims and witnesses to bravely come forward in the U.S. court system currently, whereby if their cases are mishandled, can lead to re-traumatization over and over again. As we watched the politically manipulated theater and ramrod confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett unfold before our eyes, Americans must understand the vital role that attorneys and judges play; and the impact these individuals will have in the future on the protection and progress of our personal rights as Americans, and whether or not justice can and will be served.
