Men and Women; The Search for Common Ground

I have represented a score of sex assault victims in civil law suits involving conduct ranging from the "merely" tawdry to the brutally savage. I believed the claims of every single woman and man I represented. Never once was my trust betrayed. 

These cases remain the most searing and soul crushing of my career. I continue to struggle to give full expression to the range of emotions that experience and the current climate summon in me.

My involvement took place in the 1990's spanning the Anita Hill hearings and the Clinton impeachment proceedings. At that time, sexual assault claims were discounted, minimized  and met with ferocious attacks on the victim's veracity, integrity, life style and motives.  

I believed in and trusted the claims of every one I represented. Not once was my trust or confidence in their veracity, honesty, and integrity  betrayed. 

Those I represented were not prominent, wealthy or powerful. They were young and old, female and male and all vulnerable and very frightened. They were also all uniformly courageous in their determination to press their claims through the judicial system. 

Men who rape fill me and every decent law abiding man with shame, anger and revulsion for those of my sex who perpetrate this evil. 

As I watch the tsunami of public accusations lodged against famous, prominent, wealthy, and powerful men in the fields of entertainment, press and politics I am skeptical. 

The Hollywood exposes, while useful in illuminating the pervasive nature of predatory sexual behavior in the entertainment industry, are not the place I look for  guidance on any issue related to sexual conduct. 

Hollywood life styles and customs are far removed from those of most of us. These are people who, for all the talent and artistry they possess and and for all the pleasure they give us through their creations live in a play land of assumed realities and poses untethered from conventional societal mores.

I have no expectation the disclosures about the entertainment industry will do anything meaningful to change the ways of men and women in show biz.  Weinstein, Spacey, Cosby, et al.  deserve to be ostracized and, where the evidence is available, prosecuted, but I refuse to believe the expressions of shock and surprise from their colleagues.  Those who knew and remained silent are complicit.  

I have no confidence Hollywood is going to scale back the constant barrage of sex and violence they sell us - not as long as we continue to buy it. Would we even want them to when they paint such provocatively pretty pictures of the sexual fandango? 

Nor is Hollywood going to repeal the blanket of forgiveness and tolerance extended to randy legends of yore like Fatty Arbuckle,  Errol "in like" Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, or more recent transgressors like Roman Polsanski  Michael Jackson and many more. 


 I expect a few dozen gilded icons to be tossed onto the sacrificial flames of public opinion, followed by some veiled and snide remarks at the next awards ceremony, before the celebs repair to Jack Nicholson's pad for an evening's bacchanal.  

The corridors of political power in Washington and state houses around the country present a far more intractable problem for which the only current remedy  is the leveling force of the ballot which, as we have seen with the election of Donald Trump and the more recent elevation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, does not equate to justice.  

Let us not be naive as to the nature and scope of the political problem. Powerful men have abused women from the beginning of time. Those abuses have been ignored or flimsily covered by a cowed and complicit media that has protected perpetrators out of fear, timidity and cronyism.  The institutional protections built into the political system are a formidable fortress to overcome. 

Scroll through the list of Presidents and precious few are beyond reproach. The list of politicians guilty of egregious sexual indiscretions is long and fails to include the intentional, "oops" quick grabs and unwelcome squeezes women have been subjected to. 


Capitol Hill has long excused sexual predators from Ted Kennedy to Clarence Thomas to Strom Thurmond, who fathered an illegitimate child by an African-American woman that he kept hidden for decades and from whom, by report, no young woman on Capitol Hill was ever safe.  

As an aside, those who continue to lust for Bill Clinton blood ignore the fact that the Lewinsky affair  was litigated and left the former President with a scarlet letter that he will never outlive.  His impeachment and the semen stained dress that led to it will be recounted  in the first paragraph of every obituary. I call that punishment enough.

Who and how many will be now be swept away by the flood of accusations? What behavior is thoroughly disqualifying? 

 Will we condemn and destroy the careers of every member of the Senate, House and state houses around the country accused of conduct from the snide "locker room" remark to the "cop a quick feel" while excusing Donald Trump and Roy Jones? 

Will broad allegations of inappropriate touching derail the career of Al Franken or charges of pedophilia prevent the ascension into the Senate of Roy Moore?

What is the proper response to those who embrace Trump, a self-professed and unrepentant sex abuser so quick to cast blame on others while denying his own culpability? 

When Franken invites an investigation, is it because he is confident he will survive on the merits or that the threat of further disclosures will mute his colleagues who, by pursing an investigation expose themselves to their own dark secrets being exposed?  

What measure of credence are we to place in unsubstantiated allegations, rumors and innuendo? 

Where is the line of demarcation between the "merely" naughty and the truly villainous?  To what extent do we factor in the gravity of the charges?  Does an unwelcome touch or lewd remark trump forcible assaults and pedophilia?

I trust and believe the present hue and cry will spur a continuing national dialogue spurring enduring change in the manner in which men of wealth and power in particular treat those in subservient positions.  

Most men spend their lives and careers loving, living with, and working alongside women without untoward incidents. How do we respond to this changing landscape? How, if at all, do we alter our perceptions, expectations and daily conduct? Do we forgive and forget based on our admiration for certain individuals,  the gravity of the charges and our own sense of propriety and proportionality?     

I hope every woman and man who has been victimized finds the courage to come forward and finds advocates and the forum to have their claims heard and realize a measure of justice. 

I also hope that every man accused of inappropriate conduct receives a full and fair hearing and that if sanctions are warranted, they are appropriate to the transgression.  

I fervently hope and belief these episodes represent the beginning of an ongoing national dialogue in the search for common, enduring and peaceful common ground age old battle of the sexes for justice and equality. 

HL 11.27.16

Update:  I did not expect the sustained and aggressive response to the wave of sex assault claims in the broadcasting and entertainment industry. Based on the facts known to me, the dismissal of Charlie Rose was warranted. This morning's news of the dismissal of Matt Lauer, on facts not yet disclosed, is a surprise. It indicates his conduct was both verified and egregious and therefore, justified. I do not yet consider the charges against Al Franken to warrant his immediate resignation - at this time. John Conyers resignation appears inevitable delayed, I suspect, by his allies searching for a way to ease him out while salvaging his reputation. I expect many more allegations to emerge implicating those on both sides of the aisle. I have represented enough victims to know how very difficult it is to come forward. I applaud the women (and men) who are doing so.

Until the rights of the poor and powerless who do not have ready access to advocates or the resources to pursue claims are routinely addressed and vindicated, and as long as we face the looming specter of Roy Jones being elected to the US Senate and the continuing presence of Donald Trump in the White House, we reside in a House of Cards with no foundation.