The Honorable Cock Jowles: also he gangraped a woman

To be fair (and I’m not taking sides) you did nIt answer the question. Does rehabilitation exist in your opinion? Would we rather have DD (or any other young person who we will presume as guilty) rehabilitated to the degree it SEEMS DD has and positively contributing to society or in jail? His position as an athlete notwithstanding.

It’s a perfectly reasonable question.

The perspective of people like Stevenson on the front lines of creating social change inspire me to try to see how to both challenge myself and others to make the world safer and more just, while not discounting the full humanity of perpetrators. It’s hard – back when I practiced psychotherapy, women with PTSD from domestic violence was a specialization. The tendency toward anger and toward writing off people who commit those acts as a separate irredeemable group is strong. It’s driven by a desire to protect the innocent and vulnerable but also by a need to defend our self-image from the idea that we’re capable of such things. That defensive impulse distorts the view of the perpetrators and suggests simplistic and ineffective ideas about what drives the acts we want to prevent.

It takes a lot of self control to press hard for justice and healing while resisting the temptation to view anyone who’s ever crossed a red line as just another member of a shady group that few want to look at up close.

I can’t do it very often. Mostly I think of the human cost and need for action and am very willing to make simplifying judgments that clarify the moral turf and who’s on which side of the battle. But Stevenson and others like him remind me of what’s lost in giving in to that impulse and why it’s worth the effort to try to follow their lead.

Damyean can’t change the decisions he made that night. Nothing he has done in the aftermath of the incident, either just afterwards or ever since, has given even the faintest hint of entitlement or sociopathy. If he is not worthy of redemption, then does the concept really exist?

also he gangraped a woman

thenoblefacehumper: Having said all of this, I do believe in one’s ability to change even after doing something heinous. I am not saying Dotson should be banned from employment, or even basketball related employment, for life. I have no perfect answer to all of the questions presented, but I do know that I wasn’t comfortable rooting for him and Rose at all and nothing about being a sports fan in general makes those feelings invalid.

In general, I don’t hold athletes up to be role models and have rooted for some who have had known allegations, and even convictions for serious offenses. Again, I think Dotson is a special case. It’s a complicated discussion involving age, race, class, criminal justice in a racist society, athletes and privilege, clarity regarding specific circumstances, mitigating factors, character outside of the incident, and behavior post-incident. For me, I don’t think our final judgments about anyone’s life should boil down to a decision made on a single night at the age of 19. Damyean can’t change the decisions he made that night. Nothing he has done in the aftermath of the incident, either just afterwards or ever since, has given even the faintest hint of entitlement or sociopathy. If he is not worthy of redemption, then does the concept really exist?

In short, I don’t think the Damyean Dotson of that night exists any more. I would have no problem hiring to work in my school (i.e. would stake my onw reputation on him) unless I learned something additional beyond what I already know.

Here’s the police report of the rape, which happened in three different locations, with details on her crying, being put in a “chokehold,” repeatedly saying no, and reporting that Dotson “[bragged] about what he and the guys did. He said, she was crying, maybe because we fucked her too hard.”

Also, the alleged rapists went to a mutual acquaintance in the athletics program, “Cassie,” and asked if the victim was “going to go to the cops.” I wonder why they had that conversation.

What a guy.

thenoblefacehumper: Looks like we’ll get all the Mitch we can handle, maybe some Spellman too.

There’s no amount of Mitch I can’t handle and wouldn’t shoot directly into my veins. The issue is with Mitch’s hands.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/university-of-oregon-complaint-rape_n_5331120

University was notified of the alleged rape on March 9, followed by the VP of Student Affairs sending a memo claiming that the university’s student conduct policies were “out of step with federal laws.”

Holmes’ memo suggested that the university was holding sexual assault cases to a prohibitively high standard of evidence, thus putting alleged victims at a disadvantage.

And where’s Strat to tell me how the “real world” works?

Freyd believes the university violated the Clery Act, a campus security law, by not creating a police log when the alleged victim’s family first reported the gang rape to the UOPD. She further believes, as stated in the complaint, that the school violated the law a second time by not issuing a campus-wide alert that they had received a sexual assault report, “particularly when [UO] learned a week later that one of the alleged perpetrators had a prior report of sexual assault at a prior college.”

Lane County District Attorney Alex Gardner decided on April 14 not to file criminal charges against the players, saying it was not because he did or did not believe the reported victim, but because there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. In a lengthy statement released to the press, Gardner repeatedly questioned why the woman did not take action stop the alleged assault while it was happening.

Real world: Imagine being a victim of an alleged rape by three athletes towering over you and the prosecutor asks you why you didn’t try to stop them.