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果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 Shibley Notes Missing Voices in 鈥楴ew York Times鈥 Article on 鈥楢ffirmative Consent鈥
Earlier this week, 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 Robert Shibley wrote a letter to the public editor of The New York Times, Margaret Sullivan, in response to a Times article on California鈥檚 new law requiring college students to give and receive 鈥affirmative consent鈥 for sex. Here鈥檚 Robert鈥檚 in full:
Dear Ms. Sullivan:
Richard P茅rez-Pe帽a and Ian Lovett鈥檚 September 29, 2014, article, 鈥淐alifornia Law on Sexual Consent Pleases Many but Leaves Some Doubters,鈥 neglects to mention some of the most powerful arguments of the 鈥渄oubters鈥 and, we fear, leaves the reader with a false impression about the nature of worries about the new law. Specifically, civil libertarians have voiced doubts about whether a law of this nature can be fairly administered, especially given the nature of human sexuality as a lived experience.
Media outlets including , , the , the , and have all cited civil liberties and/or due process concerns about the bill. Yet the Times鈥 article makes no mention of these concerns, focusing instead on critics who simply doubt the law鈥檚 potential effectiveness in reducing the incidence of campus rape. This is a startling oversight, made all the more baffling by the fact that so many other major publications have addressed the law鈥檚 potential to cause real confusion when it comes time to determine whether a sexual act was or was not consensual.
This problem is far from merely theoretical. As reported recently, increasing numbers of students across the country have filed lawsuits against their colleges claiming that they were wrongly found guilty of sexual assault. Passage of a law that further muddies the waters when it comes to due process and fair administration鈥攐ne of the law鈥檚 authors responded to a question about how an innocent party could prove that he or she got consent by saying 鈥溾濃攚ill only make the problem worse.
By making no mention of the severe problems with this bill from a civil liberties perspective, the Times has done its readers a disservice.
Sincerely,
Robert Shibley
For more analysis of California鈥檚 new law, check out 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 past coverage here on The Torch.
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