Sexual Assault: The Wrong Decisi0n?

The decision has been made that Sean Diddy Combs didn’t have an international sexual racketeering firm. He is ONLY convicted on charges of domestic violence. He was relieved and his lawyer declared that decision as a win. His words were, “We own the domestic violence.” Has the Me-too Movement been forgotten already? Since when did domestic violence become a win? There was also a comment made that “we won one against the government.”

The decision raises some important ethical issues for consideration. When OJ was accused of murdering his white wife, and he was freed after all the evidence was entered, the black community rose up and were ecstatic with the conclusion. When Trump was convicted of sexually assaulting a white woman, the jury found him guilty. Could race have informed the decision making, with much more evidence against Sean Diddy Combs? Are black women less important than white women? Did I miss the outrage from the black community, particularly women, against the conviction that he was someone who ONLY  was convicted of domestic violence?

Is this another example of an inability to speak truth to power? Diddy was a powerful man who, like Trump, could hire the best defense lawyers in the land. Did classism enter this equation for justice?

Will this make it easier for women suffering from domestic abuse, whatever their race despite the gains from the Me-too Movement, feel empowered to speak up? Absolutely not!

Personal decisions by the courts become cultural decisions. Just look at Trump’s wins in court cases that are destroying our Democracy.

Imagine your most personal history of your sexual practices being put before voyeuristic America to see and be titillated by.  Are we better than her for, after all, she is a sex worker of sorts? Jean Carroll who won the sexual assault case against Trump was a journalist and author. Do we see those jobs as better or worse in our culture?

As Isabel Wilkinson writes in her book, Caste, we always find groups of people that we see as “less than” so that we feel “better than.” In a recent study of people who have watched pornography 65% were men and 34% were women. But when polled together 92% of the group wanted pornography websites restricted. Do as I say not as I do.

Then there is our ethical theme of “Show Me the Money.”  Casandra Ventura knew exactly what she was doing. Would she have entered a relationship with Combs if she had had both fame and money?  Probably not! For that reason, it is hard to have empathy for her which enters any ethical decision-making steps. If she were your daughter, how would you feel about the case?

One of my former students was on the Vestry, an elected group of students. The Vestry directed chapel services based on issues in the community or the nation that needed to be considered in the context of worship. To use an analogy, they were the players, and I was the coach. The coach doesn’t win games. The players do. They were real leaders. I would have time outs where I would step in to provide leadership when needed like a coach does   during timeouts. Students were hungry for the kind of opportunity being on the Vestry gave them.  One year 24 students ran for 4 open positions.

This student spiritual leader is a Professor of History at Princeton now. When he was writing his Ph.D. thesis, he was using the New York City Library as the place to do his research. He was called for jury duty in a high-profile murder case in New York City that everyone was watching. He was elected foreman of the jury. He wrote a book about his experience titled The Jury. He let me know after a decision was made that he used all his leadership skills learned on the Vestry to do his work with the Jury to bring the group to a unanimous vote.

During the trial the evidence was mounting proving that the accused had to have committed the murder. It was obvious to New Yorkers. But the jury could not agree beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person was guilty. Two themes ran through his narrative about the trial. You are innocent until proven guilty. Second, our Justice System is not perfect, but it is the best in the world.

Could that perspective have been behind the result of the Sean Diddy Combs Trial? That is the ultimate question! I hope that the answer is “yes!” Still the cultural issues remain!