So far most sexual harrassment cases have been litigated through social and not legal means. Companies decide on the fly whether or not to fire or keep on people who have been accused of sexual harrassment. The government decides through their political parties whether to force out those accused or whether to keep them in for political expediency.
The cases usually arise when someone publicly (most often in the media) accuses another person of sexually harrassing or even physically assaulting and/or molesting them, (which is a crime). But the rules are fluid, and are not applied anywhere near evenly.
Senator Franken is hounded out by his party because he was accussed of kissing and/or groping several women during his comedy (not his Senate) career. Roy Moore of Alabama is encouraged to run for the Senate after written proof (his own signature on cards and in high school year books) of his predatory behavior with 14 year old girls is exposed in the press.
Those two are polar opposites in the degree of the offenses alleged and social punishment exacted, yet they happened during the same weeks.
And neither of the two has been called to task by criminal authorities. Neither has had a single day in court. Neither has had the United States Constitution Amendment 6 right to “…to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have assistance of Council for his defense.”
The law is a jumble on this issue. States are all over the place, and are mostly absent on the legal issues involved. Ethics committees are useless and sometimes even harmful.
Legal questions abound. What specific actions constitute a harrassment crime? When is it too late to accuse a person for old offenses? (Statutes of limitations.) What evidence is acceptable to prove a crime in a court of law? How many accusers constitute a pattern of behavior? How should witnesses be treated on the stand? What questions are out of bounds for the defense to ask? What is the legal recourse for those falsely accused?
I am suggesting it is time for legislators at all levels of government to take up these and other questions regarding legal liability for harrassment. It is neccessary to prevent rumors from becoming convictions, as well as for offenders to escape legal liability for their transgressions.
And it is time for all those concerned with this issue to pressure their elected officials to take such action.