Letter: Dialogue surrounding sexual assault must adjust

Fellow campus community,

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel

After recent reports of rape involving USD students, our campus community has an opportunity to reflect on our response and discussions about it. Infamous defendants, like Brock Turner from Stanford, have instigated necessary development in our national conversation about sexual violence and perpetrators of it. This time the conversation is closer to home, prompting discussions and factual allegations that would be easier to avoid altogether.

Within our law school classrooms, we discuss uncomfortable facts and topics quite often; exposure to the dark sides of the human condition is an occupational hazard in the law. Law faculty and students reading about the allegations noticed that the news reports and interviews had a skewed focus, one that we felt was inappropriate in light of the allegations.

For example, consider the following quote from Tena Haraldson, a university spokeswoman which was reported by The Volante: “It’s just an unfortunate situation. It hurts the image of USD, it hurts the athletic team, the football team is going to be affected by this,” she said. “It’s their comrades, but yet it is also their pride of their team, so I think everybody is going to be dealing with it for a long time.”

This quote in particular spurred significant conversation within the law school, as to how a quote like this would be elicited, chosen for publication, and prioritized as the concluding remarks of the story. Regardless of any explanation, we owe reluctant victims more support as leaders, journalists or fellow students.

Complicity in light of our professional and personal experiences in this area was never an option. According to Rape Assault Incest National Network (RAINN), a sexual assault occurs every 98 seconds in America. Only 20 percent of female students ages 18 to 24 report their assault to law enforcement. Even fewer female survivors of rape sought assistance from a victim service agency.

Victims often forego reporting their experience in fear of exposure to disbelief of their trauma or to retribution stemming from the perpetrator’s identity or social status.

Criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty, and rape charges are quite difficult to substantiate beyond a reasonable doubt. Additionally, there is no doubt that the future of the accused has been and will be significantly impacted as well. After the passage of Marsy’s Law, victims have a bill of rights providing a degree of privacy and other protections to victims.

On campuses nationwide, Title IX empowers university officials to investigate and mitigate the effects of existing allegations involving students and employees, in a proceeding entirely separate from the criminal justice system. Although as law faculty and students we often happily debate the complexities of the law in these areas, no debate exists that a significant disservice was done in the dialogue about this victim and other victims with similar experiences.

Assumed innocence of a criminal defendant and compassion for victims or those impacted are not mutually exclusive. Our dialogue must adjust if we prioritize a criminal justice system where victims feel safe using our legal system to remedy their situation.

The indictment documents made it clear that the victim, our fellow Coyote, hesitated to come forward about these student-athletes, because she feared the repercussion of allegations against star athletes in the midst of a successful football season. True to form, reports on this incident ensure that readers focus on the athletic prowess of the charged individuals and the impact allegations will have on an entire team.
buy strattera online https://pridedentaloffice.com/wp-content/languages/new/over/strattera.html no prescription

As future legal professionals, we expect community and university leaders to be aware of the societal impacts that the status quo inflicts and we expect our local media to report without prioritizing arguably irrelevant information that feeds into an already repugnant social disparity. Let’s start a new conversation on campus, one that demonstrates compassion for victims while retaining roots in our principles of justice.

Sincerely,

The following individuals do not speak for their organization, for the Law School or for the University of South Dakota: 

Morgan Nelson, Student Bar Association President

Rachelle Norberg, Alternative Dispute Resolution Board President

Paige Petersen, President of Women in Law

Alayna Holmstrom, Co-President of Trial Team

Britni Summers, Managing Editor of the South Dakota Law Review

Jenna Schweiss, American Bar Association Representative of the Student Bar Association

Lynae Tucker, Student Government Association At-Large Senator

Willie Hustead, President of St. Thomas More Society 

Olivia Siglin, President of Law School Democrats

Sara Smalley, Chair of First Generation Law Students Committee

Victoria LeftHand, Vice President of Native American Law Students Association 

Kay Luther, Former Vice President of OUTlaws

Austin Printz, Criminal Justice Education Project Representative

Tracy Miller, Treasurer of Women in Law

Rachel Mairose, Secretary of Women in Law

Erica Ramstad, Black Law Students Association Student Advisor

Brianna Haugen, 1L Class President

Whitney Petersen, Vice President of the 1L Class

Mae Meierhenry, 1L Representative of Women in Law

Kelcy Schaunaman, 1L Representative of Law School Democrats

Kylie Beck, 1L Representative to the Criminal Justice Education Project

Ian Haubert, Vice President of Environmental Law Society

Dylan Kirchmeier, 1L Representative for Law School Democrats

Bert Bucher, 3L at USD Law

Lindsay Martin, 3L at USD Law

Bo Bearshield, 3L at USD Law

Justin Huston, 3L at USD Law

Jennifer Doubledee, 3L at USD Law

Stephania Greenwood, 3L at USD Law

Camille Brown, 3L at USD Law

Kate Ginsbach, USD Law School Community Member

Erin Willadsen, 2L at USD Law

Amanda Ludwig, 2L at USD Law

Joseph Mattson, 1L at USD Law

Emmanuel Tomenou, 1L at USD Law

Brian Meis, 1L at USD Law

Isabelle Hayes, 1L at USD Law

Christine Hutton, Professor of Law at USD Law

Frank Pommersheim, Professor of Law at USD Law

Thomas Horton, Professor of Law and Heidepriem Trial Advocacy Fellow at USD Law

Myanna Dellinger, Associate Professor of Law at USD Law

Dr. Sean M. Kammer, J.D. Ph.D., Associate Professor of Law at USD Law

Hannah Haskgaard, Assistant Professor of Law at USD Law