Believe women … or else!

It’s 2019 and Atticus Finch still isn’t enough

UW-Madison still has the long knives out
for Quintez Cephus

Quintez Cephus has been exonerated of criminal sexual assault in Dane County Circuit Court. Not just presumed innocent but — mindful of the Mueller Report’s contentious refusal to “exonerate” the President — adjudged innocent after a full, evidentiary trial. This man WAS exonerated before the law.

It is another matter entirely as to whether he will get his life back. Whether this young black man will readmitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That remains to be seen. The jury is still out. No, scratch that. The jury in his Dane County Circuit Court case returned its not guilty verdict in less than 45 minutes. We should say the star chamber tribunal at the university is still out.

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Only $30 from Philly Feminists United, which describes itself as “a collective of women and gender non-conforming intersectional feminists.” 

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Thank you, President Obama

Why is his reinstatement not a slam dunk (to mix sports metaphors)? The promising Badger football receiver can thank Barack Obama and the baying hounds who sought to ruin Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and countless others. Because Mr. Cephus was felled by the torch-carrying mob that demands the suspension of convincing proof in favor of sexual equity. “Believe the Woman” or be branded a sexist pig.

To a certain degree, Quintez Cephus is the intersectional victim of today’s identity politics. Like Atticus Finch’s client, he was exonerated in court but punished anyway. His attorneys say the university does not want him back. (Story here.) Because of the criminal charges, Cephus could not defend himself before the university tribunal.

Isthmus co-founder Fred Milverstedt tells Blaska Policy Werkes: 

In the eyes of the law, Cephus is not guilty of the crime. He has however violated a UW code. The code is one result of a letter Obama sent around advising colleges and universities to establish a policy of conduct that really cracks down on offenders — [that being] toxic men in particular, especially if it involves a woman.  If there’s a woman involved, chances are, whatever your position or place, you are already phuqued. There is, however, a catch.

Knowing the UW, if the decision comes down to sticking to their PC guns or being labeled as racist — nationally! internationally! — It’s just as likely they’ll fold.

Whatever happened to due process?

It was the Obama administration in 2011 that redefined sexual assault under Title IX as merely “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.” Failure to adhere results in the loss of federal funding.

Universities treat accusations of sexual misconduct against male students (disproportionately, though they don’t like to admit it, minority male students) as presumptively true. The accuser is given all sorts of help and deference, the accused is treated as a criminal from day one, and often not allowed to call witnesses, cross examine his accuser, or otherwise enjoy the sort of due process that, say, a university administrator would demand if accused of a crime. — U of Tennessee law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds.

Betsy DeVos to the rescue

Trump’s unfairly maligned Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, is proposing reinforcing rights of the accused. The definition sexual harassment would be more specific and schools would be held accountable only for formal complaints filed through proper authorities and for conduct that occurred on campus. The Cephus event occurred off-campus.

The New York Times reported: 

For several years, higher education administrators have maintained that sexual misconduct rules pressed by the Obama administration unnecessarily burdened them with bureaucratic mandates that had little to do with assault or harassment, and men’s rights groups have said the accused have had little recourse.

The DeVos rewrite would allow for the accused to cross-examine accusers during sexual misconduct hearings, although it would be carried out through a third party to avoid confrontation between students.

Blaska’s Bottom Line quotes law professor Reynolds:

At today’s universities, masculinity is almost never discussed except in negative terms, usually with the word “toxic” attached. When girls and women are discussed, the question is always about how to help them do better. When boys and men are mentioned, it’s almost always as some sort of a problem. The anti-sex-discrimination education law, Title IX, is supposed to promote sexual equality, but in fact it has been turned into a club with which to beat male students.

What do YOU think?