PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
1.I believe we have to tread carefully in this #metoo age, where largely unprovable allegations can ruin a reputation, and for too many it is a political charge rather than sexual.
One of my favs was so charged, and wrote a book about proving his innocence. Itās Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer and professor of law, and the book is āGuilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo.ā
This is not the first Dershowitz book Iāve read, and Iāve followed him on TV. He is of a very different political persuasion from mine, but he is Liberal for whom I have developed a great respect.
In chapter 2, he explains the advice he gives his clients, and why he did the very opposite.
Hereās what he did when faced with the accusation:
2. āOn the day before the 2015 New Year, I received a phone call from a journalist who said āYouāve been accused of having sex with an underage girl. What do you have to say?ā
A few days later, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed entitled āA Night- mare of False Accusation That Could Happen to YouāĀ¹āµ in which I wrote about the legal predicament I found myself in and about the āgaping hole in our legal systemā that permits unscrupulous individuals to make false accusations without any legal or pecuniary consequence.
3. I agreed to waive the criminal statute of limitations by submitting a sworn affidavit that, if false, would subject me to a current perjury prosecution, despite the accusation being well beyond the statute of limitations. I challenged my accuser to pro- duce any photographs or other physical evidence substantiating her account, which I knew could not exist. I also demanded that she and her lawyers repeat the accusation on TV, so I could sue them. Of course, they did not. I called my false accuser a liar and perjurerānot only in court papers but in media interviewsāknowing that this exposed me to the risk of an expensive and risky defamation suit by her. In short, I did everything I would never allow any of my own clients to doā because most of my clients have had something to hide.ā Op. Cit.
One of my favs was so charged, and wrote a book about proving his innocence. Itās Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer and professor of law, and the book is āGuilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo.ā
This is not the first Dershowitz book Iāve read, and Iāve followed him on TV. He is of a very different political persuasion from mine, but he is Liberal for whom I have developed a great respect.
In chapter 2, he explains the advice he gives his clients, and why he did the very opposite.
Hereās what he did when faced with the accusation:
2. āOn the day before the 2015 New Year, I received a phone call from a journalist who said āYouāve been accused of having sex with an underage girl. What do you have to say?ā
A few days later, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed entitled āA Night- mare of False Accusation That Could Happen to YouāĀ¹āµ in which I wrote about the legal predicament I found myself in and about the āgaping hole in our legal systemā that permits unscrupulous individuals to make false accusations without any legal or pecuniary consequence.
3. I agreed to waive the criminal statute of limitations by submitting a sworn affidavit that, if false, would subject me to a current perjury prosecution, despite the accusation being well beyond the statute of limitations. I challenged my accuser to pro- duce any photographs or other physical evidence substantiating her account, which I knew could not exist. I also demanded that she and her lawyers repeat the accusation on TV, so I could sue them. Of course, they did not. I called my false accuser a liar and perjurerānot only in court papers but in media interviewsāknowing that this exposed me to the risk of an expensive and risky defamation suit by her. In short, I did everything I would never allow any of my own clients to doā because most of my clients have had something to hide.ā Op. Cit.