Hat tip National Review
Stanford University's Thomas Sowell is one of the brightest minds in America. In this piece for National Review, he speaks out on the crisis over sexual assaults on US campuses. Since I also teach on a university campus, I am interested in his take on this issue.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/377804/sexual-assault-campus-thomas-sowell
First of all, let me say that I consider rape to be a heinous crime worthy of a long prison sentence upon conviction. In that regard, I am reminded of an incident on the UC Irvine campus where I teach a few years ago. They were having one of those absurd Vagina Monologues events, and a pretty young girl came up to me on campus one day to give me a flyer and ask me to attend. My response to her was that raising awareness about sexual assaults was fine and dandy, but if they really wanted to accomplish something, they should push their lawmakers to pass stiffer sentences for convicted rapists. Another VM gal joined the discussion as wide-eyed coeds stared at me in disbelief. "But more incarceration isn't the answer. We just want to raise awareness," she said. Oh well.
I might also add that in the wake of all these sexually-themed weeks and events going on in academia, not to mention a certain newspaper at UC Santa Barbara that features a regular column on how to have all kinds of sex in excruciatingly explicit detail, the colleges must absorb some of the criticism if sexual misconduct is occurring.
Having said that, allegations of rape are serious. Sowell is correct that it is a matter for the police. If the police decide there is enough evidence to bring charges then the university can take disciplinary action. The Duke lacrosse rape case is illustrative although it was not only the university that overreacted. The prosecutor was also guilty of misconduct.
As for Eric Holder, this is something that he should keep his nose out of. Rape is not a federal crime; it is a state crime and is handled by local police. To pressure universities to take some sort of action is an abuse of his powers, in my view. Holder should be worrying about a multitude of crimes that he and his Justice Department are not enforcing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
A stopped clock is right twice a day, as Gary is fond of saying, and this is Sowell's time to be right. He gets in a few gratuitous ad hominem remarks along the way, as is his wont, but most of his points are correct.
There are lots of people doing time in prison who should not be there, and there are a good number who are overdue for long sentences who manage to commit one more crime, sometimes killing someone in the process.
Getting these decisions right is a difficult balancing act, but generally, a well-established, unambiguous case of rape is good cause for a long prison sentence. It IS the answer SOMETIMES.
If I were Sowell, I would still tutor the young lady in the evening. I would just be sure I did so in a semi-public place where what we were (and were not) doing was plainly visible to a variety of witnesses.
I don't ever recall using the phrase about the clock.
You write too fast to remember all you post.
Post a Comment