Friday 21 February 2020

The legal definition of consent...

According to reports, one of the first notes the jury in Harvey Weinstein's case sent to the judge, seeking clarification, was a request for the legal definition of consent.

Is anyone else finding this weird? I mean, it's not like a jury of ordinary people would need to ask for the legal definition of "taking something that belongs to someone else" in a theft case, right?

Everyone knows that even if you do it by accident (like forgetting that bag of potatoes on the bottom rack of your grocery cart) and even if you didn't realize it belonged to someone else (like taking some "junk" sitting unattended at the edge of an unfenced property), "taking something that belongs to someone else" has a specific meaning that we all understand. You might not be aware that you've taken something that belongs to someone else, and you might not realize what you're taking belongs to someone else, but everyone can understand the concept of "taking something that belongs to someone else."

You can literally get a toddler to understand what "taking something that belongs to someone else" means, even before they're morally and cognitively developed enough to get why it's wrong to do it. (The little sociopaths.)

The purpose of the law is not just to punish people who transgress it. It's also to put people on notice as to what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is punishable. "Taking something that belongs to someone else" is not always a crime, nor is it always unethical or morally wrong, but I think all of us can wrap our heads around what it is to take something that belongs to someone else. A thing belongs to someone else, and you take it.

Consent is at the heart of sexual assault law, the way "taking something that belongs to someone else" is at the heart of the laws around theft, shoplifting, mugging, burglary, robbery, etc.

And a jury of 12 adults don't know what sexual consent means under the law. This is not okay.

If 12 jurors don't know what sexual consent is under the law, it's entirely possible that any or all of them have criminally violated someone's sexual consent. If 12 jurors don't now what sexual consent is under the law, then how can we hold ANYONE punishable for violating the grey edges of it?

Will Weinstein be acquitted on a technicality? Because hey, he might have violated those women's consent in practice, but not in legal theory?

Or, worse by far for the ordinary person, will Weinstein end up convicted on a technicality? Because he should have understood something that these jurors didn't know themselves until they asked a judge to explain it to them?

I have heard that politics is downstream from culture. This appears to be an example of the opposite--one situation where our legislators have enacted laws, and definitions in law, that few of us really understand. And that's not good news for those of us who have to live in the real world of mundane human interactions, who aren't schooled in the precise definitions in the laws that govern our behavior.

How are any of us to know when we've crossed a line, if that line needs to be defined by a judge to the 12 adults asked to make a determination on it, who theretofore had no idea where it lay?

And here's the thing. This is not like signing a mortgage agreement--something most people do only a few times in their lives, where you bring in a lawyer and everything's written down. This is an agreement to an act that, by random internet nerd estimates suggest, more than 600,000 people globally are engaging in right now, and every second of every day.

Have any of them had access to a judge to ask them what the legal definition of consent is? How many of them are lawyers? And how did the most fundamental human act other than giving birth and dying become so freaking complicated?

91 comments:

  1. Any scheme to outlaw the "making out" process as it's always been done, will never and should never be respected or obeyed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alright...

    What I'm going to tell you might sound really weird, and maybe even a little "out there..."

    WHAT if you could just push "Play" and listen to a short, "musical tone"...

    And miraculously attract MORE MONEY into your life??

    What I'm talking about is thousands... even MILLIONS of DOLLARS!!

    Sounds way too EASY?? Think it's IMPOSSIBLE???

    Well, I've got news for you...

    Sometimes the largest blessings in life are the easiest to RECEIVE!!

    In fact, I'm going to provide you with PROOF by letting you listen to a real-life "magical money tone" I developed...

    YOU just press "Play" and you will start having more money come into your life... starting so fast, you will be surprised...

    CLICK here to play the magical "Miracle Abundance Sound Frequency" - it's my gift to you!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Easy "water hack" burns 2 lbs OVERNIGHT

    Well over 160000 men and women are using a easy and secret "liquid hack" to burn 1-2 lbs each and every night in their sleep.

    It's effective and works every time.

    Here's how you can do it yourself:

    1) Grab a glass and fill it with water half the way

    2) And then learn this awesome HACK

    you'll become 1-2 lbs skinnier in the morning!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Loan Opportunity Offered By Mr, Benjamin That Save My Family From Financial Bondage {lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com}

    Hello Everyone, I am Putri Adiratnaa single mom from Jakarta, I would like to share this great testimony on how I got a loan from Mr, Benjamin, when we were driven out of our home when I couldn't pay my bills anymore, After being scammed by various companies online and denied a loan from my bank and some other credit union I visited. My children were taken by the foster care, I was all alone in the street. The day i shamefully walked into an old school mate who introduced me to Daisy Maureen. At first I told her that I am not ready to take any risk of requesting a loan online anymore, but she assured me that I will receive my loan from them. On a second thought, due to my homelessness I had to take a trial and applied for the loan, luckily for me I received a loan of $80,000.00 from Mr, Benjamin. I'm happy I took the risk and applied for the loan. My kids have been given back to me and now I own a home and a business of my own. All thanks and gratitude goes to Le_Meridian Funding Service and for the help of Mr, Benjamin for giving me a meaning to life when i had lost all hope. If you currently seeking for a loan assistance, you can contact them via: {lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com} Or WhatsApp +1-989-394-3740

    ReplyDelete
  5. 10,384 people have died from COVID-19 so far in Spain. The Spanish government even delayed quarantine and social distance so this march could be held. To put this in perspective,
    with this march in Spain comparing the UK to Spain looking at 8 march and 23 march the UK reported cases where 65 compared to 149 on the first date and 967 versus 6368 on the 23'th.
    This march at least doubled the cases in Spain.
    Really a smart move.
    https://freewestmedia.com/2020/03/13/madrid-covid-19-infections-soar-after-womens-day-march/

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is symptomatic that sex under the law is understood as a relation of someone with a thing. A possible definition of hysteria is negotiating herself as an object to another's desire in order to repress her own desire. In this scenario the desire of the hysteric gets out of the scene and all she talks about is how the other's aproach to her is inadequate, even if she really desired an encounter with the one who tryed clumsily to aproach her. It also aquires a form of a phalic competition with the man who causes her desire, as a way to not wanting to know anything about her desire. To know what that is just remember your conversations with feminists and their contept for truth, and their interest only in winning the argument. The social praise of hysteria way precedes feminism and it is by abusing this that feminism was able to catch on. There are hysteric men on the men's rights movement too, and they should know that they will never get away with what our society acepts of hysterical women. So the men's rights movement should never try to be symetrical to the femnist movement. Men's rights are other issues and they can't be tackled by abusing social praise of hysteria, as femnism has been doing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The preceding three comments are spam. Karen, you might want to start policing this. It's been happening on your earlier posts, too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I want to share a testimony of how Dr OSAGIE herbal mixture cream saved me from shame and disgrace, my penis was a big problem to me as the size was really so embarrassing ,and i was also having weak erection problem i had so many relationship called off because of my situation,m i have used so many product which i found online but none could offer me the help i searched for Which was very painful and then i saw some few testimonies about this herbal specialist called Dr OSAGIE and decided to email him on so I gave his herbal product a try. i emailed him and he got back to me and we discussed, he gave me some comforting words and encouraged me also ans then gave me his herbal pills and cream for Penis Enlargement Within 1 week of it, i began to feel the enlargement of my penis, " and now it just 2 weeks of using his products my penis is about 9.7 inches longer and am so happy contact Dr OSAGIE via drosagiesolutionhome5 @ gmail. com Via whatapp +2348034778129.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Join the dedicated and passionate teachers and staff at AYM. All yoga sessions begin with pranayama, meditation, and dynamic techniques (pawanmuktasana) to bring your body and mind in a proper state for practicing Hatha and Vinyasa yoga.

    https://yogateachertraininggoa.com/500-hour-yoga-teacher-training-in-goa-india/

    ReplyDelete
  11. I liked the content on this site. Autopair is the largest Canadian auto warranty company. Autopair provides the best_extended car warranty in Canada with No Hassle, No Dealerships, and No Quotes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Three more spams. Do you even care anymore???

    ReplyDelete
  13. Readerslove is The hub of motivational quotes in hindi, attitude shayari in hindi, sarcasm, life quotes in hindi, hindi shayari, love quotes in hindi, dank memes, funny memes" and much more. here you get knowledge & entertainment in form of images

    ReplyDelete
  14. Readerslove is The hub of motivational quotes in hindi, attitude shayari in hindi, sarcasm, life quotes in hindi, hindi shayari, love quotes in hindi, dank memes, funny memes" and much more. here you get knowledge & entertainment in form of images

    ReplyDelete
  15. Readerslove is The hub of motivational quotes in hindi, attitude shayari in hindi, sarcasm, life quotes in hindi, hindi shayari, love quotes in hindi, dank memes, funny memes" and much more. here you get knowledge & entertainment in form of images

    ReplyDelete
  16. Alasan yang paling sering terdengar ketika membeli mobil bekas adalah harganya yang lebih murah daripada mobil baru. Memang, harga di seva mobil bekas berada di bawah harga mobil pada umumnya namun kualitas yang diberikan cukup berkualitas. Simak penjelasan lengkapnya di acehinside.id.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I Believe you are an awesome write and while reading this blog there are so many positive points I found in this blog.
    We offer cheap Frontier Airlines Reservations online

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you very much for this useful article. I like it.Web designing company in karur

    ReplyDelete
  19. Keandalan seseorang meracik kopi tidak langsung muncul begitu saja tanpa pelatihan. Di sana setiap orang terlebih dahulu mengikuti pelatihan barista untuk mengetahui estetika dari penyajian kopi. Mengingat pentingnya ilmu tersebut, saat ini sudah ada pelatihan atau kursus barista yang tersebar di Indonesia. Baca selengkapnya di acehinside.id

    ReplyDelete
  20. "Svapps is the IT Company in Warangal, karimnagar, Hyderabad, USA, Canada. Best software company in Hyderabad, service provider for Web Design and Software Development, best digital marketing company in karimnagar, and best app development company in karimnagar, svapps have the web design company in karimnagar.
    https://svapps.in/web-development

    Digital marketing Company in Karimnagar
    Web Design Company in Karimnagar
    Mobile App Development Company in Karimnagar

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a nice article. I am impressed. To know more about Digital services, you can navigate to our panel.

    Visit:- www.smartechdigital.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your content is very attractive and useful in which the authenticity looks like the services of our website are also authentic and the content is also useful.
    http://khelomcx.com/

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have not seen much better content before that are authentic and also useful
    http://mcxbulliontips.in/

    ReplyDelete
  24. I agreed with this post. Nice Article.
    Our Services

    ReplyDelete
  25. Quickbooks online is widely famous for its accounting software. It is a very simple and reliable software. Also, it’s a secure application for your bank data and daily expense records. This is the reason that’s why most USA user likes to use Quickbooks software whether they are using desktop versions or using web applications. Both users can get some error messages. This error message occurs due to user mistakes. If the user has deleted any Quickbooks directory file and any other company file then the user faces Quickbooks error. So if you are one of them then you have to use Quickbooks support number service. So that you can troubleshoot your Quickbooks errors.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Learned vey detailed information
    Thanks for sharing
    https://youtu.be/bSiexk8b8tg

    ReplyDelete
  27. Download Linkedin Video: Online Linkedin video downloader helps you to download LinkedIn videos from mobile and desktop. The downloading LinkedIn video procedure is very easy and simple.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Nice Article. Thanks For Sharing Valuable Information. Keep Posting
    worldwide express courier

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Nice Blog!!
    Norton login account is one of the easiest platform that allows you to manage products download Norton antivirus and protect your device from online threats.
    Norton Account
    Norton Setup"

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for sharing it is important for me. I also searched for that from here. Visit our site bellen AVG belgie

    ReplyDelete
  31. Good Post!!
    AOL Mail serve all the emails in your account, with aol email will get all updates on your mails promptly by creating aol account.
    AOL Sign In
    AOL Gold Download

    ReplyDelete
  32. Nice Post!

    We are offering best in house architecture flats/apartments/villas for sale in Hyderabad in hyderabad which are located in prime locations of hyderabad. For more details of flats/apartments/villas please architecture Click here.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I hope the content is looking very good and impressive. You can also book your air tickets from the Flights Villa.

    ReplyDelete
  34. https://uncertainoutcomes.blogspot.com/2014/02/us-ignite-are-we-heading-to-world-of.html?showComment=1602232558547#c6933400366635929008

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hey article post in this blog.
    https://www.safaridental.com/

    ReplyDelete
  36. Great and valuable information, Thanks for sharing. Also, visit Historyofpakistan.com for knowing the history of Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hey what a brilliant post I have come across and believe me I have been searching out for this similar kind of post for past a week and hardly came across this. Thank you very much and will look for more postings from you.
    Kevlar jeans Kevlar shirts Kevlar gloves

    ReplyDelete
  38. Its a great pleasure reading your post.Its full of information I am looking for and I love to post a comment that "The content of your post is awesome" Great work.
    armored motorcycle hoodie motorcycle cargo pants

    ReplyDelete
  39. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free.
    womens biker apparel motorcycle riding pants

    ReplyDelete
  40. Superbly written article, if only all bloggers offered the same content as you, the internet would be a far better place..
    womens motorcycle jeans best motorcycle jeans

    ReplyDelete
  41. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting?I have read a few of the articles on your website now, and I really like your style. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work.
    Kevlar motorcycle jeans
    Kevlar motorcycle gloves

    Kevlar motorcycle shirts

    ReplyDelete
  42. Most of the time I don’t make comments on websites, but I'd like to say that this article really forced me to do so. Really nice post!
    motorcycle gloves
    motorcycle safety gear
    motorcycle riding gear

    ReplyDelete
  43. Wow, Very amazing blog and it have covered the vital points for flight bookings… I planned my New Year trip with my friends so I made my flight booking with New Year Flights Deals and got the best airfare.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I really enjoy while reading this content due to the well-optimized content and informative headings. Now you can enjoy the great discount on Copa Airlines Official Site.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Very important information given by you.
    https://natureandtour.com/vikramshila-mahavihar-the-lost-ancient-university-vikramshila/

    ReplyDelete
  46. Informative Blog, well written, you should write upon Online Shopping

    ReplyDelete
  47. The most of the content in this blog is practical approach based. You can fly with Allegiant Airlines Reservations to make sure higher travel goals in the sky.

    ReplyDelete
  48. your blog content is to much helpful and easy to read.
    Much appreciated and looking forward to read more of you.

    Frock

    ReplyDelete

  49. We are high-class elite all janakpuri call girls service providers , providing top quality , honest call girls services to discerning ladies and gentlemen located in india. We offer janakpuri call girls service that's second to none. one that's total to the client who wants to flee the standard & proceed to experience of unforgettable & discreet call girls services. janakpuri escorts services

    ReplyDelete
  50. Even if only 1 doesn’t understand what “consent” means, that’s a problem. 8.3 % of our population doesn’t understand what “consent” means with regards to sexual activity??? Fuck me! That’s 664 million people on our planet!!! Do you think it’s ok that 664 million people are walking around without an understanding of what “consent” means. Or that 664 million people may be acting inappropriately with the opposite sex because they thinks it’s ok? Idk. As a microscopic version of the world, this is a problem. This is assuming that only 1 person was unclear. What if 6 were unclear? Or 8? Do the math. Seems like it’s a problem to me

    ReplyDelete
  51. I really loved reading this article. Reading is my passion & I keep searching such contents. I am very much passionate about the healthcare domain. If anyone wants to know more about this sector, they may visit https://kemshealthcare.com

    ReplyDelete
  52. What an amazing stuff. I express my best regards to the author who has published this wonderful article. Do you know "Travelling new places also gives lots of knowledge & information?" Just explore more about new places, tour packages & much more at http://www.stctravels.in
    Thanks. Stay in touch...!!!

    ReplyDelete
  53. I liked your blog too much. I am very much excited to learn new ideas. Thanks for sharing ideas.

    I am fond of reading a lot of blogs. I have developed my technical skills with the help of such blogs. Thanks for providing such valuable information.

    If anyone wants to learn technical courses like AWS, Comptia+ Security plus, PMP, CISA etc. they may refer to Visit my website for details about Professional Skills :- www.certhippo.com

    Visit my website for details about Technical Courses :- www.certhippo.com

    ReplyDelete
  54. I appreciate your effort of writing a value able piece of content. You can also visit our website for scdl assignments help
    https://www.studylivezone.in/academic-service/assignments

    ReplyDelete
  55. As a result, the Netflix mobile app has the best service anywhere, at any time. However, there is an easy way to stream Netflix movies on your television at home, and if you have the right television, you do not need anything else.Netflix Contact Nederland

    ReplyDelete
  56. Thanks a lot for giving us such a helpful information. You can also visit our website for nmims assignment answers dec 2021 free

    ReplyDelete
  57. What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It positively helpful and it has aided me out loads. I am hoping to give a contribution & assist different users like its helped me. Great job!
    스포츠토토

    ReplyDelete
  58. I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This paragraph posted at this website is genuinely fastidious. 텍사스홀덤

    ReplyDelete
  59. สล็อตเว็บตรง ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ ambbet เว็บหลัก เว็บรวมค่ายสล็อตออนไลน์ เกมสล็อตเเตกง่าย เล่นได้ทุกเกม ปั่นสล็อตผ่านเว็บ ambbets.com ไม่ต้องโหลด สล็อตมือถือ เล่นง่าย จ่ายเต็ม ฝากถอนไม่มีขั้นต่ำ สล็อตไม่ต้องทำเทิร์น ถอนได้เลยไม่ต้องเเจ้งยอด สมัครสล็อต รับโบนัสฟรี 100% ฝากเงินเล่นเกม เครดิตฟรีไม่อั้น โปรโมชั่นเพียบ.

    ReplyDelete
  60. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  61. legal transcriptionist role is pivotal in the legal profession, ensuring accurate and timely documentation of legal proceedings.

    ReplyDelete

Commenting policy:

All comments are welcome here. I refuse to censor points of view that differ from my own.

I recognize that I may be challenging the deep-seated beliefs of some people, and perhaps stirring up emotions in others. However, I would ask:

- if you care to respond to anything that I have said, please do not simply link to or quote some statistic. Do not simply regurgitate things you have been told are true. Think about what I am saying. Respond with an argument. Offer something from your personal observations, and explain to me how you feel your statistic is connected to your experience.

- If you wish to be part of a discussion, try not to dismiss what I or a another commenter says out of hand. Yes, that means that some lines of thought or ideologies may not stand up to scrutiny (perhaps even my own).

- Remember, ad hominem attacks diminish everyone involved. If you want to criticize anything, do so passionately and directly - but debate is about attacking ideas, not people.

Have at you!