Rape Victims Get Their Day in Court
posted by: Ximena R. 74 days ago
Lately, I've been consumed with stories about rape (see here, here, here, and here for examples). It's not a nice place to be, but finally I have some good news to report and I couldn't be more pleased.
Yesterday, an amendment proposed by Minnesota Senator Al Franken to the Defense Appropriations bill that would penalize companies from restricting their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery, and discrimination cases to court passed by a 68-30 vote.
“The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law... And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts to deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court,” said Franken in his speech on the Senate floor. “The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.”
The amendment was inspired by the story of Jamie Leigh Jones who at the age of 19 was drugged and gang-raped by co-workers at KBR and then held in a container with an armed guard for at least 24-hours without food or water so she couldn't report the crime. For the past 3 years, Jones has been fighting to bring a lawsuit against the company, but has been unable to bring charges in court because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
“This is simply too long for a rape victim to wait just to have her day in court,” said Franken. “The only thing more outrageous than KBR's actions here is that Ms. Jones' story is not an isolated one. Since Ms. Jones' courageously shared her story many more women have come out of the shadows saying the same thing happened to them and yet some of these women are still waiting for their day in court too.”
Recently, a decision from the 5th Circuit Court encompassing Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi ruled that Jones is in fact entitled to her day in court. Now, thanks to Senator Franken, so will many other rape victims.
"It means the world to me," Jones said of the amendment's passage. "It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it."
It certainly was.
Listen to Senator Franken's speech on the Senate floor.
Read more: bill, rape, amendment, womens rights, sexual assault, senator franken, jamie leigh jones
comments
This is the only time that I so glad that the Demos out number the Repub because what are they thinking?
If you notice every time there is sex alegations it seems that Repub are involved and that is why they voted the wrong way because they wouldn't want them to end up in trouble for something they think is OK by them. I guess
I am so glad that Al Frankin stepped up to the plate to help all rape victims because it is way past time for this to happen and that is a fact.
The real thing that has to happen is I think the law should be changed from rape to manslaughter so there will be a longer sentence for all men and women that do this horrible act.
There should not be a statue of limitations on rape as well but the law has to change from rape to manslaughter in order for that to happen.
Why do I say manslaugter the moment that you are raped the person you were is gone and it will never return OH you are still alive but you have changed the way you feel about men in general is different you no longer really have the same trust as you did before the rape. The big thing is INNOCENCE LOST and it will never ever return as in my case. My brother-in-law started raping me at the age of twelve (12) and stopped when I was twenty-one (21) because I got married and he couldn't get a hold of me but I lost that husband and many many jobs, family and so much more by keeping the secret because he would kill my family and let me watch.
We have to change the law to manslaughter.
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It sounds like it is time to vote the remaining Repuclican idiots out of office, useless dog droppings that they are. Along with reading about denying battered women health care, this really takes the cake!
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The evidence in court records confirms a conspiracy to deny the right to access to a civil jury trial and an impartial court to challenge malfeasance. This is a “legal†issue which Congress must investigate and review to stop the malfeasance of the Judicial and Executive Branch abuse of delegated authority of Congress under the Rules Enabling Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2072(b); the Judicial Conference of the United States Act, 28 U.S.C. § 331; and the Judiciary Act of 1925 at 43 Stat. 936 (providing for “discretionary appellate jurisdictionâ€). In reconsidering these delegations Congress must recall the sorry acts of German judges, lawyers, and law schools permitting the usurping of Constitutional rights under the Weimar Republic aiding the NAZI to power, because, “[b]y the time the gas vans came and the human slaughter factories were built in Auschwitz and the other death camps, the murder of the six million Jews and other persecuted minorities was done completely within the framework of German law.†Yad Vshem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority, 2004. (http://home.earthlink.net/~malfeasance)
Thus, it is obvious that our Republic cannot survive the unbridled tyranny and cronyism of government attorneys and judges, and then surreally place themselves above and beyond the law by unilaterally declaring themselves
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helen - exactly what i was thinking: here in canada, such a clause would be unenforceable because it's illegal. another example is "no pets" in rental agreements in ontario - it's perfectly legal for the prospective tenant to sign the contract including the "no pets" clause and then turn around and get a rottweiler. so long there are no complaints from the neighbours and no damage done to the property, the landlord can't do Thing One about it.
only in america are corporate interests considered more important than human rights!
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Steve R.--
Speaking as a lifelong bleeding heart progressive liberal Democrat: I think the Republican Party has just lost its way a bit. Lately they have been taking the other side of any issue that is publicly supported by a prominent Democrat. I cannot believe in my heart that the majority of the voting House Republicans wish to deny rape victims justice.
I agree with you that their vote in this case is disgraceful, don't get me wrong. I just think it's not possible that they are thinking clearly, or at all, right now. They need to take a little time off and regroup. Maybe return to a more middle-of-the-road stance on some of the social issues. I could've been a Goldwater conservative, myself, if it weren't for the fact that I'm a total sap who always wants to protect and help everyone. I feel bad for their party, actually. It has been hijacked on one side by a bunch of chicken-hawk neocons and on the other side by people who think the wall of separation between church and state should be dismantled, so long as it's their personal Jesus who gets to be The Decider. I think it's high time the individuals in the Republican Party started thinking for themselves again. Or started thinking, period.
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What a courageous woman Jamie Leigh Jones is. Thanks to her courage and tenacity, in the face of this disgraceful society you live in -- that can until now, allow this kind of thing to happen and continue, unpunished -- there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I am in awe of her courage.
But I am mortified to hear that such laws still exist in America, where such things can happen and companies can protect their male employees from prosecution. It sounds just like what happens in Pakistan to lots of women inside their families or villages. I remember some article posted here on Care2 a few months ago, and everyone was up in arms telling how primitive Pakistan society is, but is not American society very similar in many ways ? At least until now and this vote ? Was not this double standards in the case of all those people condemning Pakistan and not seeing what is/was happening in their own country ?
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Steve R., you hit it smack on the nose. Things like this need more wide-spread press coverage. How can ANYONE with a conscience vote AGAINST an amendment like this? How can anyone read this story and think that not giving victims of rape the opportunity to confront their attackers is somehow a good idea?
This sort of thing KEEPS happening because those who commit these crimes are PROTECTED from the law, not prosecuted by it.
Insane. Really just...insane. More misogyny over here please...
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Men who rape for any reason should be known as off the "Darwin scale" of being human. They are animals just like the brow ridged slope headed not quite human upright walking who were lost in the mists of time. They should be put away in a cage for the rest of their natural life.If that includes people in the "Grand Old Party" so be it, cage them all.
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Steve R., I applaud you. I have been trying to figure out what the Republicans are doing for some time. I grew up in a Republican household and we were very proud of the heritage of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and now I'm wondering where the social conscience of today's Republicans has gone. How could anyone vote against a woman being able to accuse those who raped, assaulted, terrorized, imprisoned and will have to live the horrifying memories for the rest of life. Thank you.
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day in court
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