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The Book
- Thread starter grizchamp
- Start date
UMGriz75
Well-known member
Here's the Official Chart that shows that, NO MATTER WHAT, you were raped!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/sexual-assault-perfect-victim-chart_n_6615956.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/PerfectVictim2.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The obvious problem is that this does undo what was supposed to be the crowning achievement of feminism, that of demonstrating the moral and psychological equality -- even superiority -- of women, and instead replacing it now with a bizarre construction of irresponsible, confused, even deranged members of society so fragile and co-dependent as to be excused for virtually any deceit or cunning they may employ in relationships for the entire purpose in those cases of "punishing men."
This is why Defense lawyers, in rape cases, prefer women on the juries because men are typically unwilling to believe that women would actually do that, because it is not something a typical man would do, whereas women are fully aware that the motivation is not uncommon in women. Strange but true.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/sexual-assault-perfect-victim-chart_n_6615956.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/PerfectVictim2.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The obvious problem is that this does undo what was supposed to be the crowning achievement of feminism, that of demonstrating the moral and psychological equality -- even superiority -- of women, and instead replacing it now with a bizarre construction of irresponsible, confused, even deranged members of society so fragile and co-dependent as to be excused for virtually any deceit or cunning they may employ in relationships for the entire purpose in those cases of "punishing men."
This is why Defense lawyers, in rape cases, prefer women on the juries because men are typically unwilling to believe that women would actually do that, because it is not something a typical man would do, whereas women are fully aware that the motivation is not uncommon in women. Strange but true.
Boscoe
Well-known member
New book stirs up past incident for rookie Redblack QB Jordan Johnson
Gord Holder, Ottawa Citizen More from Gord Holder, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 27, 2015
Last Updated: April 27, 2015 11:52 PM EDT
Jordan Johnson just wants a shot like every other rookie quarterback trying to make a Canadian Football League roster for the first time.
And he would rather take that chance without the added pressure of having a new book by a high-profile writer examine his trial for sexual intercourse without consent when he was at university in Missoula, Mont.
Johnson was found not guilty by a jury of seven women and five men.
Now his case and several others are the subject of Jon Krakauer’s book Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. It was released April 21, six days before Johnson participated in his first drills as a member of the Ottawa Redblacks.
“Yeah, I read it. The only thing I would say about it is that it’s very incomplete,” said Johnson, who starred at quarterback for the University of Montana Grizzlies and who missed the 2012 season after being suspended while his case wound through the courts.
Johnson has never spoken publicly about the case or the book.
He said it was “disappointing” that the matter still came up more than two years after the trial.
“That was a really hard time for me and my family and it’s just unfortunate that somebody had to stir it all back up.”
Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins says the team performed its due diligence before signing Johnson in February.
“If people aren’t doing their homework and they just read something about what happened based on some of the writings that are out there, they’re going to assume the worst,” Desjardins said. “But, from our standpoint, we did our homework. We talked to (Johnson), we talked to a lot of people. We did everything that we had to do to be satisfied that we were making this decision not only with football in mind, but with all the other considerations in mind, and we felt comfortable doing that.”
Krakauer’s book is an exploration of the handling of sexual-assault cases in Missoula by the university, the police department and the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.
David Paoli, Johnson’s lawyer, wrote a column for The Missoulian newspaper saying Krakauer “didn’t want to tell the whole story because the whole story is not the story he set out to tell.”
In a telephone interview, Paoli said: “My hope and my wish for Jordan is that he can move on, which he is fully prepared to do and very excited to be included in Ottawa’s plans, and he has worked very hard to be able to make the team,” Paoli said. “He is looking forward, and he is a very positive individual, and he will make it so he can pursue his dreams unfettered or not impeded by the very difficult year he went through.”
The Grizzlies were 37-14 overall in Johnson’s four seasons. The team was 5-6 without him in 2012.
Gwen Florio, a former reporter with the Missoulian who now teaches journalism at the University of Montana, said Johnson’s trial was a major event in the Montana city of about 70,000, where the university is a major employer and the football team has a huge profile.
“Before (Johnson) was charged, there was a lot of community support to having more awareness about rape and sexual assault and the whole problem,” Florio said. “When he was arrested and he was charged, people just flew into two deeply opposing camps.
“Either you thought this was a big problem and they were handling things correctly, or you thought things had suddenly gone out of control and people had gotten too crazy about it. There was huge support for him in the community and a lot of anger, unbelievable anger, over this.”
At Montana, the 6-1, 195-pound Johnson completed 58 per cent of his pass attempts for 8,615 yards and 78 touchdowns. He also ran for 896 yards and six touchdowns.
Other quarterbacks on the Redblacks roster include veteran and presumed starter Henry Burris, fellow returnees Thomas DeMarco, Danny O’Brien and Alex Carder and another CFL newcomer, Brock Jensen.
On Monday, the Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group issued a statement about Johnson’s situation.
“As is the case with all rookie players, the Redblacks conducted extensive character reference checks on Jordan prior to his signing and the results were extremely positive,” the statement said. “He faced serious charges that were determined to be unfounded.
“The Ottawa Redblacks fully support the efforts of groups and individuals that are committed to the elimination of gender-based violence in our society.”
The statement credits Krakauer’s book with raising awareness of a societal problem, “but it also casts an unfortunate shadow on an innocent man who is trying to embark on his professional career. The Redblacks support Jordan on those efforts.”
[email protected]
Twitter.com/HolderGord
Gord Holder, Ottawa Citizen More from Gord Holder, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 27, 2015
Last Updated: April 27, 2015 11:52 PM EDT
Jordan Johnson just wants a shot like every other rookie quarterback trying to make a Canadian Football League roster for the first time.
And he would rather take that chance without the added pressure of having a new book by a high-profile writer examine his trial for sexual intercourse without consent when he was at university in Missoula, Mont.
Johnson was found not guilty by a jury of seven women and five men.
Now his case and several others are the subject of Jon Krakauer’s book Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. It was released April 21, six days before Johnson participated in his first drills as a member of the Ottawa Redblacks.
“Yeah, I read it. The only thing I would say about it is that it’s very incomplete,” said Johnson, who starred at quarterback for the University of Montana Grizzlies and who missed the 2012 season after being suspended while his case wound through the courts.
Johnson has never spoken publicly about the case or the book.
He said it was “disappointing” that the matter still came up more than two years after the trial.
“That was a really hard time for me and my family and it’s just unfortunate that somebody had to stir it all back up.”
Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins says the team performed its due diligence before signing Johnson in February.
“If people aren’t doing their homework and they just read something about what happened based on some of the writings that are out there, they’re going to assume the worst,” Desjardins said. “But, from our standpoint, we did our homework. We talked to (Johnson), we talked to a lot of people. We did everything that we had to do to be satisfied that we were making this decision not only with football in mind, but with all the other considerations in mind, and we felt comfortable doing that.”
Krakauer’s book is an exploration of the handling of sexual-assault cases in Missoula by the university, the police department and the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.
David Paoli, Johnson’s lawyer, wrote a column for The Missoulian newspaper saying Krakauer “didn’t want to tell the whole story because the whole story is not the story he set out to tell.”
In a telephone interview, Paoli said: “My hope and my wish for Jordan is that he can move on, which he is fully prepared to do and very excited to be included in Ottawa’s plans, and he has worked very hard to be able to make the team,” Paoli said. “He is looking forward, and he is a very positive individual, and he will make it so he can pursue his dreams unfettered or not impeded by the very difficult year he went through.”
The Grizzlies were 37-14 overall in Johnson’s four seasons. The team was 5-6 without him in 2012.
Gwen Florio, a former reporter with the Missoulian who now teaches journalism at the University of Montana, said Johnson’s trial was a major event in the Montana city of about 70,000, where the university is a major employer and the football team has a huge profile.
“Before (Johnson) was charged, there was a lot of community support to having more awareness about rape and sexual assault and the whole problem,” Florio said. “When he was arrested and he was charged, people just flew into two deeply opposing camps.
“Either you thought this was a big problem and they were handling things correctly, or you thought things had suddenly gone out of control and people had gotten too crazy about it. There was huge support for him in the community and a lot of anger, unbelievable anger, over this.”
At Montana, the 6-1, 195-pound Johnson completed 58 per cent of his pass attempts for 8,615 yards and 78 touchdowns. He also ran for 896 yards and six touchdowns.
Other quarterbacks on the Redblacks roster include veteran and presumed starter Henry Burris, fellow returnees Thomas DeMarco, Danny O’Brien and Alex Carder and another CFL newcomer, Brock Jensen.
On Monday, the Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group issued a statement about Johnson’s situation.
“As is the case with all rookie players, the Redblacks conducted extensive character reference checks on Jordan prior to his signing and the results were extremely positive,” the statement said. “He faced serious charges that were determined to be unfounded.
“The Ottawa Redblacks fully support the efforts of groups and individuals that are committed to the elimination of gender-based violence in our society.”
The statement credits Krakauer’s book with raising awareness of a societal problem, “but it also casts an unfortunate shadow on an innocent man who is trying to embark on his professional career. The Redblacks support Jordan on those efforts.”
[email protected]
Twitter.com/HolderGord
After nine pages, it almost feels like you're right there in the bedroom with them!
Creepy.
Creepy.
Grisly Fan
Well-known member
Holy cr@p! Does this person not know then any male who regrets having sex with a woman (yes it does happen) then the woman could be charged with rape? Does it do anyone any good to set the bar that low?AZGrizFan said:grizcountry420 said:
As males we are figuratively screwed. :shock: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
fanofzoo said:
Agreed Fan. That's what really strikes me. Somebody who tries to promote themselves by attacking the university (and not just the the football program and JJ) in print over several months is rewarded with a job teaching journalism at the same institution? Very very odd. I wonder if UM school of Journalism is still an an accredited program? Might not be after Florio gets done teaching her brand of writing. What's next? Will the department bestow an honorary doctorate on Krakhore?
snap said:
Don't think that you can escape justice that easy. I recently located and spoke to the girl in Revelstoke. She said she was way to drunk to give consent for the hand job she gave you a couple of years ago and is pressing charges. Ironically, she then gave me a hand job. Anyway, you might want to rethink your travel plans to the Great White North. FWIW, I don't believe that Argentina and Canada share an extradition agreement.
No more level stroke in the town of Revelstoke. Apparently CDA isn't the only one to throw out a Steinbeck reference.
Ursa Major said:snap said:
Don't think that you can escape justice that easy. I recently located and spoke to the girl in Revelstoke. She said she was way to drunk to give consent for the hand job she gave you a couple of years ago and is pressing charges. Ironically, she then gave me a hand job. Anyway, you might want to rethink your travel plans to the Great White North. FWIW, I don't believe that Argentina and Canada share an extradition agreement.
No more level stroke in the town of Revelstoke. Apparently CDA isn't the only one to throw out a Steinbeck reference.
Haha! Perfect.
Latest review (I believe) New York Times. I'll be glad to delete if this has already been posted here.
by EMILY BAZELON APRIL 28, 2015
"An odd lapse for a past master story teller"
Three years ago, a young woman befriended by the powerhouse author Jon Krakauer and his wife told them she had been raped when she was a teenager by a boy she knew and, later, for a second time, by a family friend. She was still struggling to recover. “She gobbled Adderall to stay awake and guzzled alcohol to fall asleep,” Krakauer writes. “It was an unconscious attempt to annihilate herself.”
Krakauer set out to educate himself about rape, especially when it is committed by someone the victim knows, looking for survivors who would tell him their stories. He focused on why many don’t go to the police as he tried “to comprehend the repercussions of sexual assault from the perspective of those who have been victimized.” The result is “Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town,” which has more in common with “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Krakauer’s depiction of the evils of Mormon fundamentalism, than with his morally complex tales of misadventure, “Into the Wild” and “Into Thin Air.”
In “Missoula,” Krakauer looks at the University of Montana, the local police and the prosecutor’s office through the eyes of five women who reported rapes or attempted rapes between 2010 and 2012. The Justice Department investigated the handling of 80 sexual assault cases in Missoula during this period, and Krakauer supplies dismaying details that would explain why the department found a pattern of disrespect and indifference toward alleged victims. For example, he tells us, a detective interviewing an accused male student quickly reassured him that she was certain he didn’t commit a crime, because “we have a lot of cases where girls come in and report stuff they are not sure about, and then it becomes rape.” Similarly, the police chief sent an article to the female student in this case, citing two studies claiming that 45 percent of rape accusations are false. “Scholars have debunked both of these articles,” Krakauer writes, correctly pointing out that better research has estimated the rate of false rape reports at 2 percent and 8 percent.
Another sore spot is the university’s prized football team, which included several players accused of sexual assault. The allegations split Missoula — especially because they involved the quarterback Jordan Johnson. On a Saturday night in February 2012, a woman whom Krakauer calls Cecilia Washburn (her name was not released) said she arranged to watch a movie with Johnson. The night before, she’d hugged him at a dance and, Krakauer reports, drunkenly said, “Jordy, I would do you anytime.” But Washburn didn’t shower or put on clean clothes or makeup the night he came to her house, and she testified that she didn’t plan to have sex with him. Watching the movie on her bed, the two agree, they started kissing and Washburn let Johnson take her shirt off. He said they then had consensual sex. But Washburn said that she protested, “No! Not tonight!” as Johnson pinned her down and pulled off her leggings and underwear.
Washburn’s male housemate was in the living room just outside her door, playing a video game. She didn’t call out to him, but when Johnson went to the bathroom, she grabbed her phone and texted, “Omg, I think I might have just gotten raped, he kept pushing and pushing and I said no but he wouldn’t listen.” A few minutes later, she drove Johnson home; when she returned, her housemate said, she cried inconsolably.
Faced with this case and others, the university president fired the football coach and athletic director. The football team responded with an open letter that contained no words of apology and warned the school’s authority figures “to carefully consider the impact of their statements and actions on our team and our great tradition.” Three months later, following an investigation, the president of the university decided to expel Johnson. This could have been the rare case in which a school throws out a star athlete for sexual assault. But after a secret review, the Montana commissioner of higher education restored the quarterback to campus and to football.
The case against Johnson moved to court, where he went on trial. The university had used the standard of “preponderance of the evidence” (or more likely than not) to find Johnson culpable, but the standard for a criminal conviction is higher — beyond a reasonable doubt. After Washburn testified, an expert explained why victims who are raped by a person they trusted sometimes freeze or act on autopilot, as they try to stave off the trauma with denial. But the jury found Johnson not guilty.
Krakauer presents this outcome not as a reflection of the differing evidentiary standard, and a jury’s best effort to resolve a difficult and confusing set of facts, but as a bitter failure of the adversarial process. “Because the legal system stacks the deck more heavily against sexual-assault victims than victims of other crimes, it’s easier to keep the whole truth from coming out,” he writes. Yet the jury puzzled over the details of this case, according to a juror Krakauer interviewed, and finally hesitated to convict in part because of a key detail: ambiguity in Washburn’s testimony about whether she told Johnson it was O.K. that he didn’t have a condom.
Krakauer doesn’t seem to have spoken to Johnson or Washburn. (In an author’s note, he says he tried to interview the victims and accused men whose cases he covered.) And it’s not clear that he spoke to any prosecutors or police officers in Missoula, or to university officials. As a result, the book feels one-sided. It also lacks texture. Much of the story is told through transcripts of court proceedings or recordings of police interviews and news coverage. Krakauer doesn’t take us inside the student culture at the university or the community of Missoula. He lets his contempt for certain city officials show, but they’re neither memorable villains nor three-dimensional characters afforded the opportunity to explain themselves.
And strikingly, the women who should be at the book’s emotional center don’t really come to life either. Krakauer did speak to some female students, like Allison Huguet, whose assailant, another football player, confessed to raping her and was convicted, in one of the book’s bright spots. But he tells us little about these women outside of the experience of reporting rape and coping with the aftermath, reducing them, however inadvertently, to victimhood. It’s an odd lapse for a past master storyteller.
More generally, Krakauer doesn’t fully grapple with the complexities of campus sexual assault. He notes the heavy drinking that leads up to some of his book’s most wrenching episodes without exploring the role alcohol plays in making perpetrators dangerous or victims vulnerable. He briefly mentions critics who take campus rape seriously as a social problem but worry that “universities have overreacted to it, resulting in the denial of due process to men accused of rape.” But Krakauer dismisses this concern as “specious.” Instead of delving deeply into questions of fairness as universities try to fulfill a recent government mandate to conduct their own investigations and hearings — apart from the police and the courts — Krakauer settles for bromides. University procedures should “swiftly identify student offenders and prevent them from reoffending, while simultaneously safeguarding the rights of the accused,” he writes, asserting that this “will be difficult, but it’s not rocket science.”
Maybe not, but it sure is bedeviling a lot of smart people at the moment. Krakauer’s bland assurances don’t reflect the emerging consensus that these university procedures aren’t easy to get right but are worth struggling over because legitimating the outcome is crucial for both sides. Predatory football players or insensitive authorities can’t be blamed for all the current tumult. “Missoula” ends up sounding only one cautionary note in a debate that’s becoming ever more layered and cacophonous.
MISSOULA
Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
By Jon Krakauer
367 pp. Doubleday. $28.95.
by EMILY BAZELON APRIL 28, 2015
"An odd lapse for a past master story teller"
Three years ago, a young woman befriended by the powerhouse author Jon Krakauer and his wife told them she had been raped when she was a teenager by a boy she knew and, later, for a second time, by a family friend. She was still struggling to recover. “She gobbled Adderall to stay awake and guzzled alcohol to fall asleep,” Krakauer writes. “It was an unconscious attempt to annihilate herself.”
Krakauer set out to educate himself about rape, especially when it is committed by someone the victim knows, looking for survivors who would tell him their stories. He focused on why many don’t go to the police as he tried “to comprehend the repercussions of sexual assault from the perspective of those who have been victimized.” The result is “Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town,” which has more in common with “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Krakauer’s depiction of the evils of Mormon fundamentalism, than with his morally complex tales of misadventure, “Into the Wild” and “Into Thin Air.”
In “Missoula,” Krakauer looks at the University of Montana, the local police and the prosecutor’s office through the eyes of five women who reported rapes or attempted rapes between 2010 and 2012. The Justice Department investigated the handling of 80 sexual assault cases in Missoula during this period, and Krakauer supplies dismaying details that would explain why the department found a pattern of disrespect and indifference toward alleged victims. For example, he tells us, a detective interviewing an accused male student quickly reassured him that she was certain he didn’t commit a crime, because “we have a lot of cases where girls come in and report stuff they are not sure about, and then it becomes rape.” Similarly, the police chief sent an article to the female student in this case, citing two studies claiming that 45 percent of rape accusations are false. “Scholars have debunked both of these articles,” Krakauer writes, correctly pointing out that better research has estimated the rate of false rape reports at 2 percent and 8 percent.
Another sore spot is the university’s prized football team, which included several players accused of sexual assault. The allegations split Missoula — especially because they involved the quarterback Jordan Johnson. On a Saturday night in February 2012, a woman whom Krakauer calls Cecilia Washburn (her name was not released) said she arranged to watch a movie with Johnson. The night before, she’d hugged him at a dance and, Krakauer reports, drunkenly said, “Jordy, I would do you anytime.” But Washburn didn’t shower or put on clean clothes or makeup the night he came to her house, and she testified that she didn’t plan to have sex with him. Watching the movie on her bed, the two agree, they started kissing and Washburn let Johnson take her shirt off. He said they then had consensual sex. But Washburn said that she protested, “No! Not tonight!” as Johnson pinned her down and pulled off her leggings and underwear.
Washburn’s male housemate was in the living room just outside her door, playing a video game. She didn’t call out to him, but when Johnson went to the bathroom, she grabbed her phone and texted, “Omg, I think I might have just gotten raped, he kept pushing and pushing and I said no but he wouldn’t listen.” A few minutes later, she drove Johnson home; when she returned, her housemate said, she cried inconsolably.
Faced with this case and others, the university president fired the football coach and athletic director. The football team responded with an open letter that contained no words of apology and warned the school’s authority figures “to carefully consider the impact of their statements and actions on our team and our great tradition.” Three months later, following an investigation, the president of the university decided to expel Johnson. This could have been the rare case in which a school throws out a star athlete for sexual assault. But after a secret review, the Montana commissioner of higher education restored the quarterback to campus and to football.
The case against Johnson moved to court, where he went on trial. The university had used the standard of “preponderance of the evidence” (or more likely than not) to find Johnson culpable, but the standard for a criminal conviction is higher — beyond a reasonable doubt. After Washburn testified, an expert explained why victims who are raped by a person they trusted sometimes freeze or act on autopilot, as they try to stave off the trauma with denial. But the jury found Johnson not guilty.
Krakauer presents this outcome not as a reflection of the differing evidentiary standard, and a jury’s best effort to resolve a difficult and confusing set of facts, but as a bitter failure of the adversarial process. “Because the legal system stacks the deck more heavily against sexual-assault victims than victims of other crimes, it’s easier to keep the whole truth from coming out,” he writes. Yet the jury puzzled over the details of this case, according to a juror Krakauer interviewed, and finally hesitated to convict in part because of a key detail: ambiguity in Washburn’s testimony about whether she told Johnson it was O.K. that he didn’t have a condom.
Krakauer doesn’t seem to have spoken to Johnson or Washburn. (In an author’s note, he says he tried to interview the victims and accused men whose cases he covered.) And it’s not clear that he spoke to any prosecutors or police officers in Missoula, or to university officials. As a result, the book feels one-sided. It also lacks texture. Much of the story is told through transcripts of court proceedings or recordings of police interviews and news coverage. Krakauer doesn’t take us inside the student culture at the university or the community of Missoula. He lets his contempt for certain city officials show, but they’re neither memorable villains nor three-dimensional characters afforded the opportunity to explain themselves.
And strikingly, the women who should be at the book’s emotional center don’t really come to life either. Krakauer did speak to some female students, like Allison Huguet, whose assailant, another football player, confessed to raping her and was convicted, in one of the book’s bright spots. But he tells us little about these women outside of the experience of reporting rape and coping with the aftermath, reducing them, however inadvertently, to victimhood. It’s an odd lapse for a past master storyteller.
More generally, Krakauer doesn’t fully grapple with the complexities of campus sexual assault. He notes the heavy drinking that leads up to some of his book’s most wrenching episodes without exploring the role alcohol plays in making perpetrators dangerous or victims vulnerable. He briefly mentions critics who take campus rape seriously as a social problem but worry that “universities have overreacted to it, resulting in the denial of due process to men accused of rape.” But Krakauer dismisses this concern as “specious.” Instead of delving deeply into questions of fairness as universities try to fulfill a recent government mandate to conduct their own investigations and hearings — apart from the police and the courts — Krakauer settles for bromides. University procedures should “swiftly identify student offenders and prevent them from reoffending, while simultaneously safeguarding the rights of the accused,” he writes, asserting that this “will be difficult, but it’s not rocket science.”
Maybe not, but it sure is bedeviling a lot of smart people at the moment. Krakauer’s bland assurances don’t reflect the emerging consensus that these university procedures aren’t easy to get right but are worth struggling over because legitimating the outcome is crucial for both sides. Predatory football players or insensitive authorities can’t be blamed for all the current tumult. “Missoula” ends up sounding only one cautionary note in a debate that’s becoming ever more layered and cacophonous.
MISSOULA
Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
By Jon Krakauer
367 pp. Doubleday. $28.95.
grizonbob said:
I didn't think Florio heaped much praise on the book. She wasn't critical, but she says it was written from only one side and she says that she would have talked to the police and others to get more of the other side. She said the book was well-researched and well-sourced, but that is just not accurate. The book is inaccurate in multiple places, and omits scores of important points that would undercut his thesis. It is grossly misleading by omission. She engaged in this same misleading-by-omission approach by saying that Krakauer apparently did try to contact Pabst, but fails to say that it was only an email to her sent after the booked was announced and being printed. She says that she doesn't know Krakauer, altho he said he talked to her briefly during the trial (but she didn't know who he was). I thought she was relatively reserved in her "praise" and was often closer to neutral.
The book really isn't very good, as the NY Times indicated. For most people, buying it would be a waste of $28.75. Maybe it will get good national traction, but I doubt it.
AZGrizFan said:
In the case of sexual assault victims, I don't think Krakauers statements about the stacked deck are wrong, but I think he makes the wrong conclusions about why. This isn't some vast conspiratorial standard but rather and if you do the research is that the crime itself is as difficult as any to prove without a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Now that might get me penned as being pragmatic or sexist but at this point I don't think it matters whether the story is getting told without bias.
The fact is that this issue in regards to the long held bias in the other direction (male supportive) there was going to be some sort of eventual course correction. The difficulty honestly is finding a happy medium where the rights of the accused and the rights of the victim are both exercised without infringing on the rights of the other.
I don't know that is possible on an issue like this, I am not a lawyer or a law enforcement expert, but I don't know that Krakauer's conclusions and expositions of the legal system are going to reveal the type of outcomes he wants. Yes sexual assaults are under reported, prosecuted and convicted. There are so many factors that his biased and lack of nuance text aren't going to effort some sort of national discussion beyond what is already occurring for the good on college campuses and in the homes of young adults and their parents.
signedbewildered said:
An extremely fair and accurate critique. And Emily Bazlon is no dummy, editor of the Yale Law Journal, clerked at the Appeals level, etc. She points out that while JK makes some valid points and highlights some real problems -- which sadly some on here refuse to acknowledge -- his research and reporting is flawed, and frankly, it just isn't that good a book.
