January 2014
Return to Salem
"Bijan Ebrahimi, a keen gardener – a quiet, disabled man whose only joys in life came from his horticultural interests and his cat – took pictures of local youths as they attacked his plants and intended to hand the photographs to police as evidence. But instead officers were called when he was seen with the camera and he was led away for questioning as residents chanted ‘paedo, paedo’. Officers realized their mistake at the police station and he was released, but rumours had already begun circulating that he was a child abuser and two days later he was beaten unconscious, dragged into the street and set on fire.
(Daily Telegraph 3.11.13)
The proliferation of historic allegations of sexual abuse following the outbreak of a scandal about the late Jimmy Savile in October 2012 is extraordinary, even by the standard of historic abuse claims. These originated in the USA in the 1980s, and have continued relentlessly ever since in English-speaking countries round the world. The abiding theme of these claims is one of childhood innocence violated, and trust betrayed. The public reaction to the revelation of such abuse is, predictably, one of shock and outrage, coupled with a demand for retribution and reparation.
When American feminist campaigners began to draw attention to the gross minimizing (as they saw it) of the problems of rape and intra-familial sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, they used the technique of personal testimony. In the nineteenth century, this was a popular device deployed both by the antislavery movement, and by Christian revivalist movements, to promote their cause. Such ‘speaking out’ is characterized by highly emotive and graphic content, designed to shock the listener into horrified acceptance.
This rhetorical technique was not without its critics, sensitive to what nowadays we would call the pornography of misery. In 1855, a reviewer for The Athenaeum of John Brown’s Slave Life in Georgia remarked: ‘we scarcely see how the public is to be instructed by repetitious accounts so piteous and so harrowing’.
In 1971, a social worker named Florence Rush electrified the NYRF Rape Conference with her account of childhood molestation. This was second wave feminism’s equivalent to Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech, though what Rush described was more of a nightmare.
She concluded: sexual abuse of children...is an unspoken but prominent factor in socializing and preparing the female to accept a subordinate role: to feel guilty, ashamed, and to tolerate through fear, the power exercised over her by men.
Rush’s speech proved enormously influential on a generation of activists, who portrayed the nuclear family as a toxic arena of male-on-female abuse. The feminist construction of sexual violence also drew on trends in psychiatry, putting victims of rape and incest on a par with Holocaust survivors and victims of torture. They actively promoted the idea of rape as psychic trauma, causing a kind of disintegration of the self, with ensuing lifelong problems. Anti-Vietnam war activists, and the German psychiatrist William Niederland, persuaded the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Committee to introduce the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 1978. Feminist thinkers like the psychiatrist Judith Herman appropriated this concept over the next decade.
The practical problem US feminists faced was how to reconcile their claim that rape and sexual abuse were widespread, with an apparent dearth of traumatised victims. With evangelical zeal, they set about promoting a collective story. ‘Speak-outs’ on rape and incest resulted in the publication of memoirs like Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1978). Feminists urged the therapeutic professions to identify and treat victims, and the wider population to identify victims in need of help, with the aid of television and other media. Researchers claimed that one in three women were sexually abused as children. By the 1980s, Harrington notes, first person survivor testimonies were ubiquitous and stylised – as, indeed, they remain today.
The recovery movement’s Bible is a lengthy self-help manual written by two teachers of creative writing, a poet, Ellen Bass, and her student, Laura Davis, in 1988: The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. Neither of its authors had any background in science or psychology. They developed the book as a result of creative writing classes and self-help workshops that they organized. It is interspersed with seemingly firsthand accounts of abuse, often in lurid and disturbing detail. How much of these accounts is really ‘creative writing’ is a matter for speculation.
The book starts with a list of examples of abuse, followed by the assurance: ‘If you are unable to remember any specific instances likes the ones mentioned above but still have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did.’ A section headed BUT I DON’T HAVE ANY MEMORIES says comfortingly: ‘…you are not alone. Many women don’t have memories, and some never get memories. This doesn’t mean they weren’t abused.’ A chapter headed BELIEVING IT HAPPENED states:
‘To heal from child sexual abuse you must believe that you were a victim, that the abuse really did take place (italics added).’
This insistence on belief, as the precondition for healing, echoes evangelical Christian tradition. It even accepts the reality of Satanic abuse: ‘Society has got to stop denying.’
The process by which multiple memories emerge over time appears from one survivor’s account:
'The more I worked on the abuse, the more I remembered. First I remembered my brother, and then my grand-father. About six months after that I remembered my father. And then about a year later, I remembered my mother. I remembered the ‘easiest’ first and the ‘hardest’ last. Even though it was traumatic for me to realize that everyone in my family abused me, there was something reassuring about it…. My life suddenly made sense.'
This book spawned imitations worldwide. It has been roundly criticised as virulently anti-men, for encouraging false memories, and doing more harm than good. The popularized notion of recovered memory led to an outbreak of accusations by adult daughters against their parents, alleging often horrific childhood abuse. This in turn generated a rash of lawsuits, as well as bizarre accusations of Satanic ritual abuse of children at day-care nurseries, some of which resulted in successful prosecutions. To explain the delay that often ensued before accusations surfaced, psychiatrists argued that the trauma of childhood abuse led to amnesia, or dissociative memories, or even the outlandish notion of multiple personality disorder.
A counter-movement emerged, asserting that so-called recovered memories were in fact false memories implanted by ideologically driven therapists in vulnerable and suggestible clients. A variant on this hypothesis was that women sought therapy to confirm their wish to believe in prior abuse.
In 2003 Richard McNally, a Harvard professor of Psychology, conclusively demonstrated that trauma does not result in repressed memory or amnesia. ‘What we have here is a set of theories in search of a phenomenon,’ he wrote. He also demonstrated how easy it is to create false memories of horrific trauma. As the ‘strange saga of satanic ritual abuse’ shows, McNally’s work remains the gold standard in this area. His colleague, Susan Clancy, was pilloried after she did laboratory research to test the susceptibility to false-memory creation of those who said they had been sexually abused.
Clancy was then invited to undertake research on the validity of memories in those who believed that they had been abducted by aliens. Her conclusion: ‘Do our beliefs have narrative truth? Do they provide us with meaning and value? When people believe they were abducted by aliens, does this help them to understand perplexing or upsetting aspects of their lives? If so, the explanation is likely to be persuasive, satisfying, and resistant to argument (italics in original).’ A key function of such ‘magical beliefs,’ she argues, is the way in which they absolve people of responsibility for personal distress.
Later, Clancy wrote The Trauma Myth, which sparked further controversy. In it, she reiterates what many commentators had already accepted, that much child sexual abuse does not involve the use of force or violence, making the imposition of a PTSD framework inappropriate. The attraction of the trauma model has more to do with the horrified reactions of those receiving accounts of abuse, than with the experiences of those who have been abused. Instead, listeners project their own feelings of moral and even psychological revulsion onto victims.
It’s disturbing to think that in the UK justice system, the trauma model still holds primacy in sexual abuse cases: it is treated as the received wisdom on the subject. This needs to change, and change urgently. The naïve literalism with which claims of historic abuse are received also needs to change. Casting out inner demons is the proper province of the confessional or the consulting room, and not of our criminal courts.
Barbara Hewson is a barrister practising in Lincoln’s Inn"
http://www.salisburyreview.com/Hewson.html
*****
Monday, November 24, 2014
Retro Report: The Film That Birthed Multiple Personality Disorder
"Sybil," which sold 6 million copies, led to the official recognition of multiple personality disorder by the DSM and sparked thousands of diagnoses of the disorder in the 1980s.
But the techniques Dr. Wilbur used to elicit her patient's testimony were questionable, and today, multiple personality disorder, now called dissociative identity disorder, is no longer a legitimate diagnosis.
http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/retro-report-sybil-and-multiple-personality-disorder
NOV. 23, 2014
Debate Persists Over Diagnosing Mental Health Disorders, Long After ‘Sybil’
"Overwhelmingly, those receiving a diagnosis of the disorder have been
women. They typically had rough childhoods. A pattern to their stories —
Ms. Mason fell squarely within it — was that they endured horrific
physical and sexual abuse when they were little
More than a few claimed
to have been the victims of torture at the hands of satanic cults.
In
many cases, their memories were brought to the surface through hypnotism
or with injections of so-called truth serums like sodium pentothal. But
were those recollections real?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/debate-persists-over-diagnosing-mental-health-disorders-long-after-sybil.html
Showing posts with label Barbara Hewson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barbara Hewson. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Monday, 11 November 2013
A Legal System That Shrinks From Testing Witness Credibility Robustly Is Not An Authentic System Of Justice
11 November 2013
Believe the victim: a recipe for injustice
"The innocent suffer when we’re encouraged to believe all claimants.
The outraged reactions to newspaper reports of a recent debate at the London School of Economics entitled ‘Is Rape Different?’, at which I spoke, proved the point of my talk there about the prevailing ideology of victimisation. This ideology dominates official thinking about rape and sexual abuse to a point where the police actively solicit allegations with the promise, ‘You will be believed’. This militates against the idea that allegations need to be investigated.
The ‘you will be believed’ mantra also fosters an unreal expectation on the part of complainants, and the victim lobby, that their accounts should not be challenged or questioned robustly. The government is now piloting a scheme of ‘pre-trial’ cross-examination, in an attempt to shield complainants from the rigours of a criminal trial, ostensibly so as not to ‘re-traumatise victims’."
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/believe_the_victim_a_receipt_for_injustice/14272#.UoD14lOAxCM
9th November 2013
The Victims’ Code – A Lack of Substance or a Victory for Victims?
"Victims are no longer an afterthought. But we must be careful that they do not become our only thought."
www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk/features/Victims’-Code-–-Lack-Substance-or-Victory-Victims
*****
Flooded By False Rape Allegations
http://www.angryharry.com/Flooded-By-False-Rape-Allegations.htm
*****
11 November 2013
Natasha Foster falsely accused a man of raping her
"A young Ballymena woman who falsely cried rape two years ago then spilled the truth to police said she is "ashamed" of herself.
Young mum Natasha Foster (23) told police in November 2011 that she had been raped but two days later the liar came clean.
However, before she told police the truth they had arrested, questioned and put the man falsely accused of her rape in a cell.
Later this month she will be sentenced for perverting the course of justice by knowingly providing a false statement."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/im-ashamed-says-woman-who-made-false-rape-claim-29743028.html
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2013/11/uk-im-ashamed-says-woman-natasha-foster.html#.UoD3ZFOAxCM
Believe the victim: a recipe for injustice
"The innocent suffer when we’re encouraged to believe all claimants.
The outraged reactions to newspaper reports of a recent debate at the London School of Economics entitled ‘Is Rape Different?’, at which I spoke, proved the point of my talk there about the prevailing ideology of victimisation. This ideology dominates official thinking about rape and sexual abuse to a point where the police actively solicit allegations with the promise, ‘You will be believed’. This militates against the idea that allegations need to be investigated.
The ‘you will be believed’ mantra also fosters an unreal expectation on the part of complainants, and the victim lobby, that their accounts should not be challenged or questioned robustly. The government is now piloting a scheme of ‘pre-trial’ cross-examination, in an attempt to shield complainants from the rigours of a criminal trial, ostensibly so as not to ‘re-traumatise victims’."
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/believe_the_victim_a_receipt_for_injustice/14272#.UoD14lOAxCM
9th November 2013
The Victims’ Code – A Lack of Substance or a Victory for Victims?
"Victims are no longer an afterthought. But we must be careful that they do not become our only thought."
www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk/features/Victims’-Code-–-Lack-Substance-or-Victory-Victims
*****
Flooded By False Rape Allegations
http://www.angryharry.com/Flooded-By-False-Rape-Allegations.htm
*****
11 November 2013
Natasha Foster falsely accused a man of raping her
"A young Ballymena woman who falsely cried rape two years ago then spilled the truth to police said she is "ashamed" of herself.
Young mum Natasha Foster (23) told police in November 2011 that she had been raped but two days later the liar came clean.
However, before she told police the truth they had arrested, questioned and put the man falsely accused of her rape in a cell.
Later this month she will be sentenced for perverting the course of justice by knowingly providing a false statement."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/im-ashamed-says-woman-who-made-false-rape-claim-29743028.html
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2013/11/uk-im-ashamed-says-woman-natasha-foster.html#.UoD3ZFOAxCM
Thursday, 26 September 2013
People Are Not Willing To Say What They Actually May Think
Published at 12:09AM, September 26 2013
The post-Savile witch-hunt of ageing men shows moral panic, one barrister tells Frances Gibb
"Barbara Hewson is unrepentant. The barrister seems even to be relishing her notoriety. Against the current spate of historical sex abuse allegations she made headlines by claiming that there was a witch-hunt of ageing celebrities that was now a “juggernaut out of control”.
Hewson’s chambers, Hardwicke, has made clear that her comments are her own and she has had abusive e-mails. Yet the human rights and public law specialist has received support, too: why, one person said, is it even news that she is putting forward an alternative view?"
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/law/article3878965.ece
https://twitter.com/MRHarries/status/383110308933279744/photo/1
*****
September 28, 2013
Times interview: Barbara Hewson QC speaks to Frances Gibb QC
http://www.factuk.org/times-interview-barbara-hewson-qc-speaks-to-frances-gibb-qc
The post-Savile witch-hunt of ageing men shows moral panic, one barrister tells Frances Gibb
"Barbara Hewson is unrepentant. The barrister seems even to be relishing her notoriety. Against the current spate of historical sex abuse allegations she made headlines by claiming that there was a witch-hunt of ageing celebrities that was now a “juggernaut out of control”.
Hewson’s chambers, Hardwicke, has made clear that her comments are her own and she has had abusive e-mails. Yet the human rights and public law specialist has received support, too: why, one person said, is it even news that she is putting forward an alternative view?"
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/law/article3878965.ece
https://twitter.com/MRHarries/status/383110308933279744/photo/1
*****
September 28, 2013
Times interview: Barbara Hewson QC speaks to Frances Gibb QC
http://www.factuk.org/times-interview-barbara-hewson-qc-speaks-to-frances-gibb-qc
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
We Could Say More - We May Do, But, For Now ...
Wednesday 7 August 2013
'Predatory' was a slip of the tongue, but we can't ignore the assertive behaviour of some victims
(Original title - Yes, child abuse victims can be 'predatory')
"If you accuse a person of a criminal offence, which could result in his imprisonment, you should expect to come to court and be questioned about your account, in public."
"There is now such hysteria about sex crime that a grown-up debate about the difficult issues raised by recent court cases is well nigh impossible. The victim lobby, represented by various advocacy and campaigning groups, some with vast PR budgets, aggressively challenges any point of view, which does not accord with its own. This has damaging consequences for liberty and the rule of law."
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/yes-child-abuse-victims-can-be-predatory-8750569.html
Can a child sex abuse victim be called 'predatory'? - video
http://www.channel4.com/news/can-a-child-sex-abuse-victim-be-called-predatory-video
Barbara Hewson Defends Barrister's 'Predatory' Comments, Saying 'It Takes Two To Tango'
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/07/barbara-hewson-predatory-comments_n_3717529.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Barbara Hewson on 'predatory' 13-year-olds
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/uk.legal/3bd1t7a7bUs
If Robert Colover made a mistake it does not make him a scumbag
http://barristerblogger.com/2013/08/07/if-robert-colover-made-a-mistake-it-does-not-make-him-a-scumbag
August 8, 2013
Predatory Predications
"The keening and wailing from the feministas yesterday after prosecutor Robert Colover performed his duty as an official of the court and disclosed evidence which 'suggests an explanation or partial explanation of the accused's actions' was ear deafening.
Initially, the commentators were baying for the head of Judge Nigel Peters, The Sun describing the expected 'fury' - for their readers did not know of the incident before The Sun published its story; children's charities were quick to pile in behind - Paul Jackson, a junior numpty for the NSPCC described the disclosure as a 'perversion of justice'."
http://www.annaraccoon.com/duncroftsavile/predatory-predications
August 8, 2013
Teenagers who aggressively seek sex are always rape victims
"No matter how actively a minor desires a sexual relationship, s/he is always a victim of *statutory *rape". This feminist language abuse must never be challenged, or else.
A legal professional who uses any common sense faces serious problems. We are surprised that these cases have even happened and are worried about the backlash."
http://human-stupidity.com/stupid-dogma/teenage-sexuality/teenagers-who-aggressively-seek-sex-are-always-rape-victims
It's anything but "inappropriate" to point out a girl's sexual experience and predatory nature
http://stevemoxon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/its-anything-but-inappropriate-to-point.html
http://theantifeminist.com/steve-moxon-its-anything-but-inappropriate-to-point-out-a-girls-sexual-experience-and-predatory-nature/
Abused girls can be to blame, suggests Eddy Shah
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23653172
Paedophile [sic] whose victim was described as predatory has sentence increased
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/12/paedophile-victim-predatory-sentence-increased?CMP=twt_fd
Judge who called sex abuse victim, 13, 'predatory' gives paedophile [sic] longer sentence
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/judge-who-called-sex-abuse-victim-13-predatory-gives-paedophile-longer-sentence-8757425.html
Predatory Children
http://prisonerben.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/predatory-children.html?showComment=1376388590150#c5835848662975489165
*****
Child sex abuse trials to be assigned special judges to help witnesses
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/aug/07/child-sex-abuse-trials-special-judges
Judges to be specially selected for trials involving vulnerable child witnesses
http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed115571
Complex sex abuse cases to be heard by select judges
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23595398
Judge rejects sex abuse courts plan
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/420211/Judge-rejects-sex-abuse-courts-plan
*****
Comment:
We find the timing, of these two events, quite interesting.
*****
11:51AM BST 08 Oct 2013
Paedophile [sic] whose victim described as 'predatory' jailed
"A paedophile [sic] who walked free from court after his 13-year-old victim was described as "predatory" has been jailed for two years after the Court of Appeal ruled the original sentence was "unduly lenient"."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10363405/Paedophile-whose-victim-described-as-predatory-jailed.html
****
8th October 2013
Full NSPCC media statement on the jail sentence given to convicted sex offender NW:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rphe04
'Predatory' was a slip of the tongue, but we can't ignore the assertive behaviour of some victims
(Original title - Yes, child abuse victims can be 'predatory')
"If you accuse a person of a criminal offence, which could result in his imprisonment, you should expect to come to court and be questioned about your account, in public."
"There is now such hysteria about sex crime that a grown-up debate about the difficult issues raised by recent court cases is well nigh impossible. The victim lobby, represented by various advocacy and campaigning groups, some with vast PR budgets, aggressively challenges any point of view, which does not accord with its own. This has damaging consequences for liberty and the rule of law."
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/yes-child-abuse-victims-can-be-predatory-8750569.html
Can a child sex abuse victim be called 'predatory'? - video
http://www.channel4.com/news/can-a-child-sex-abuse-victim-be-called-predatory-video
Barbara Hewson Defends Barrister's 'Predatory' Comments, Saying 'It Takes Two To Tango'
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/07/barbara-hewson-predatory-comments_n_3717529.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Barbara Hewson on 'predatory' 13-year-olds
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/uk.legal/3bd1t7a7bUs
If Robert Colover made a mistake it does not make him a scumbag
http://barristerblogger.com/2013/08/07/if-robert-colover-made-a-mistake-it-does-not-make-him-a-scumbag
August 8, 2013
Predatory Predications
"The keening and wailing from the feministas yesterday after prosecutor Robert Colover performed his duty as an official of the court and disclosed evidence which 'suggests an explanation or partial explanation of the accused's actions' was ear deafening.
Initially, the commentators were baying for the head of Judge Nigel Peters, The Sun describing the expected 'fury' - for their readers did not know of the incident before The Sun published its story; children's charities were quick to pile in behind - Paul Jackson, a junior numpty for the NSPCC described the disclosure as a 'perversion of justice'."
http://www.annaraccoon.com/duncroftsavile/predatory-predications
August 8, 2013
Teenagers who aggressively seek sex are always rape victims
"No matter how actively a minor desires a sexual relationship, s/he is always a victim of *statutory *rape". This feminist language abuse must never be challenged, or else.
A legal professional who uses any common sense faces serious problems. We are surprised that these cases have even happened and are worried about the backlash."
http://human-stupidity.com/stupid-dogma/teenage-sexuality/teenagers-who-aggressively-seek-sex-are-always-rape-victims
It's anything but "inappropriate" to point out a girl's sexual experience and predatory nature
http://stevemoxon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/its-anything-but-inappropriate-to-point.html
http://theantifeminist.com/steve-moxon-its-anything-but-inappropriate-to-point-out-a-girls-sexual-experience-and-predatory-nature/
Abused girls can be to blame, suggests Eddy Shah
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23653172
Paedophile [sic] whose victim was described as predatory has sentence increased
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/12/paedophile-victim-predatory-sentence-increased?CMP=twt_fd
Judge who called sex abuse victim, 13, 'predatory' gives paedophile [sic] longer sentence
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/judge-who-called-sex-abuse-victim-13-predatory-gives-paedophile-longer-sentence-8757425.html
Predatory Children
http://prisonerben.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/predatory-children.html?showComment=1376388590150#c5835848662975489165
*****
Child sex abuse trials to be assigned special judges to help witnesses
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/aug/07/child-sex-abuse-trials-special-judges
Judges to be specially selected for trials involving vulnerable child witnesses
http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed115571
Complex sex abuse cases to be heard by select judges
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23595398
Judge rejects sex abuse courts plan
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/420211/Judge-rejects-sex-abuse-courts-plan
*****
Comment:
We find the timing, of these two events, quite interesting.
*****
11:51AM BST 08 Oct 2013
Paedophile [sic] whose victim described as 'predatory' jailed
"A paedophile [sic] who walked free from court after his 13-year-old victim was described as "predatory" has been jailed for two years after the Court of Appeal ruled the original sentence was "unduly lenient"."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10363405/Paedophile-whose-victim-described-as-predatory-jailed.html
****
8th October 2013
Full NSPCC media statement on the jail sentence given to convicted sex offender NW:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rphe04
Monday, 27 May 2013
Don't Make 'Samantha' Angry, Barbara, You Would Not Like 'Her' When 'She's' Angry
https://www.facebook.com/youhavenotdefeatedme
That not an image of you, Steven?
*****
Jurassic Park, 2013
http://jerseyric.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/jurassic-park-2013.html
Age of consent should be 13, says barrister
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22459815
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
The Usual Suspects
Monday 13 May 2013
The moral lynching of Barbara Hewson
"The crusade against the ‘whore’ Hewson after she criticised Operation Yewtree confirms that the paedophile panic rips apart rational debate.
Intolerance comes in many shapes and forms. Last week, following the publication of an article on spiked by Barbara Hewson, there was a surge in intolerance, reminding us that far too many people and institutions aim to silence voices that raise uncomfortable questions. In particular, the Hewson storm confirms that the prevailing consensus around the Jimmy Savile scandal and the numerous police investigations it has spawned is now beyond debate. Questions about what kind of behaviour constitutes child abuse; about how to respond to claims of abuse that allegedly occurred 50 or 60 years ago; about what the age of consent should be… apparently there can be no debate on these, and only the dominant official narrative may be voiced."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13612/
The moral lynching of Barbara Hewson
"The crusade against the ‘whore’ Hewson after she criticised Operation Yewtree confirms that the paedophile panic rips apart rational debate.
Intolerance comes in many shapes and forms. Last week, following the publication of an article on spiked by Barbara Hewson, there was a surge in intolerance, reminding us that far too many people and institutions aim to silence voices that raise uncomfortable questions. In particular, the Hewson storm confirms that the prevailing consensus around the Jimmy Savile scandal and the numerous police investigations it has spawned is now beyond debate. Questions about what kind of behaviour constitutes child abuse; about how to respond to claims of abuse that allegedly occurred 50 or 60 years ago; about what the age of consent should be… apparently there can be no debate on these, and only the dominant official narrative may be voiced."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13612/
Thursday, 9 May 2013
It Is About Profit And Vested Interests - Mark Knows
Thursday, May 09 2013 12PM: PUBLISHED: 19:03, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 22:19, 8 May 2013
Age of consent should be lowered to 13 to stop persecution of old men and sex assault victims SHOULDN'T get anonymity, says leading barrister
">Barbara Hewson is a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London
>She described Operation Yewtree arrests as a 'grotesque spectacle'
>Claimed disgraced Stuart Hall's crimes were 'low level misdemeanors'
>NSPCC said her 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views 'beggars belief'
Top barrister Barbara Hewson has claimed the age of consent should be lowered to 13 to protect older men in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal
The age of consent for sex should be lowered to 13-years-old in a bid to end the 'persecution of old men' in the wake of the Savile sex abuse scandal, a top female barrister has argued.
Lawyer Barbara Hewson described the arrests of celebrities such as Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis, Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford under Operation Yewtree as a 'grotesque spectacle' adding it had 'nothing to do with justice or the public interest'.
Ms Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, described the crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall as 'low level misdemeanours' which would not normally be prosecuted.
In an article for online magazine Spiked, Ms Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, also calls for the end of anonymity for complainants.
Children’s charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said to hear such 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views from a highly-experienced barrister 'beggars belief'.
Her comments come as Scotland Yard runs Operation Yewtree, an investigation split into three inquiries into allegations involving deceased presenter Jimmy Savile, involving Savile and others and those involving just others.
A number of high-profile figures have been arrested under Yewtree such as entertainer Rolf Harris, former pop star Gary Glitter, DJ Dave Lee Travis, comedian Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford. All deny any wrongdoing.
Ms Hewson argues that 'the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebs echoes the Soviet Union' and says that it is not difficult to see why some elderly defendants 'conclude that resistance is useless'."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321473/Age-consent-lowered-13-stop-persecution-old-men-sex-assault-victims-SHOULDNT-anonymity-says-leading-barrister.html#ixzz2SmUPcued
Top human rights barrister sparks outrage with call for age of consent to be lowered to 13
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/top-human-rights-barrister-sparks-outrage-with-call-for-age-of-consent-to-be-lowered-to-13-8608794.html
Barbara Hewson, Leading Barrister, Says Age Of Consent Should Be 13 And Criticises Operation Yewtree
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/09/barbara-hewson-says-age-of-consent-should-be-13_n_3242798.html?1368086628&utm_hp_ref=uk
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Yewtree is destroying the rule of law
"With its emphasis on outcomes over process, the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebs echoes the Soviet Union.
I do not support the persecution of old men. The manipulation of the rule of law by the Savile Inquisition – otherwise known as Operation Yewtree – and its attendant zealots poses a far graver threat to society than anything Jimmy Savile ever did.
Now even a deputy speaker of the House of Commons is accused of male rape. This is an unfortunate consequence of the present mania for policing all aspects of personal life under the mantra of ‘child protection’.
We have been here before. England has a long history of do-gooders seeking to stamp out their version of sexual misconduct by force of the criminal law. In the eighteenth century, the quaintly named Society for the Reformation of Manners funded prosecutions of brothels, playwrights and gay men."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13604
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Is this justice, or naming and shaming?
"Every Yewtree arrest generates anti-celeb sneering. But an arrest does not equal guilt, at least not in civilised societies.
Following the arrest of Jimmy Tarbuck on 26 April, it is clear that Operation Yewtree, the operation established to investigate historical allegations of sexual offending against Jimmy Savile and ‘others’, has the potential to be more far reaching than first thought.
The operation was initially established to investigate allegations in three categories: allegations against Savile acting alone; allegations against Savile acting with others; and allegations against ‘others’. This third category has led to the arrest of six individuals since November 2011. These have included William De’Ath, a former BBC producer, although the police have since announced that no further charges will be brought against him. On 19 April, it was revealed that last year Rolf Harris had been arrested and interviewed in relation to the third category of offending. Operation Yewtree has led to the arrest of 13 men in all. Two have been charged: PR agent Max Clifford, and ex-BBC driver David Smith."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13605
Monday 29 April 2013
After Savile: policing as entertainment
"Operation Yewtree isn’t about solving crime – it’s more like a reality TV format where the police’s aim is to thrill the paedo-fearing public."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13580/
Savile inquiry shows that sometimes, there can be smoke without fire
http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/612/
Is questioning tweeting teens or investigating historical crimes the best use of police time?
http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/610/
*****
May 9, 2013
The Family Liaison Officer
"Not just Police forces, foreign and home grown, he criticises anyone who dares to comment on where his methods are taking our long established legal system. He demands their censure.
https://twitter.com/mwilliamsthomas
What has sparked his censure of this respected barrister?
She has long been pointing out the dangers present in our Family courts which have adopted a ‘therapeutic jurisprudence’ approach, resulting in the restriction of the right to due process, the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty, the right to be tried in public, the right to confront one’s accusers, and the right to ‘equality of arms’ (that is, not to be tried under significantly less advantageous conditions that those enjoyed by one’s opponent). Other protections, such as restrictions on the use of hearsay evidence, the right to consult the expert of one’s choice, and even the right to communicate in confidence with one’s lawyers or one’s MP, have been placed in second place to the sense that ‘neutral professionals’ were working in the best interests of the child and should not be hampered by outdated technicalities.
Those who have seen their families rent asunder, new born babies snatched from their Mother’s arms following allegations by those ‘neutral professionals’ made in secret courts, or seen loved ones secretly deprived of their liberty by the Court of Protection, have long hailed her a heroine. She is an expert in the field. Yesterday she penned a cogent and well argued article pointing out that this therapeutic jurisprudence was being applied to the field of historic sex abuse. She criticised the methods that those involved with the current Yewtree investigation – which of course includes Mark Williams-Thomas, are using. She pointed out the inherent dangers to our legal system.
Within hours the Press Officer for the NSPCC was demanding that her article be either reworded or removed. They threatened to ‘approach news desks’ (what with, we know not!). Other commenters were more graphic, calling for her ‘to be raped’ and ‘hunted into obscurity’. It is heretical to call into question the methods by which the modern moral crusaders attempt to define abuse. Williams-Thomas himself called for her professional body to intervene – because she called for debate on where this new mode of justice is taking us?
I am reminded for some reason of Henry VIII. He was hugely critical of the Catholic church when they refused to reform themselves in line with his demands. He because hysterical with those who criticised him, denouncing them as heretics, demanding their heads roll, or sacking their homes and churches, as he rebuilt a ‘new’ church of which he was head, that developed new beliefs and rules and regulations.
However, it would be unfair to draw a comparison between the majestic figure of Henry VIII and Williams-Thomas; after all, he was but a pathological egotist whose only interest was in having his own way, achieving his own ends. He had no empathy with those whose lives he ruined along the way."
http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/the-family-liaison-officer/
Saturday, 11 May, 2013
Hail, an improbable age of consent heroine!
"Heroes, or heroines, do not come much more improbable than lawyer Barbara Hewson. Who would have thought that this champion of women’s rights, with a reputation to protect as a successful, high-profile advocate in leading cases, would suddenly throw caution to the winds and call very publicly for the age of consent to be lowered to 13, as she has done this week?
It’s a British story, and it has been all over the media here, replete with predictable reactions, including “shock” at the large London law firm where she is one of many barristers, who are all self-employed members of the “chambers”, or law practice team. It all kicked off with an article by Hewson in the lively libertarian online journal Spiked, to which sociologist Frank Furedi is a regular contributor: see After Savile: Policing as entertainment, mentioned here recently."
http://tomocarroll.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/hail-an-improbable-age-of-consent-heroine/
Vested Interests ...
9th May 2013
Statement from Hardwicke Chambers
"We are shocked by the views expressed in Barbara Hewson’s article in Spiked (8 May 2013).
We did not see or approve the article pre-publication and we completely dissociate ourselves from its content and any related views she may have expressed via social media or any other media outlets."
http://www.hardwicke.co.uk/unrelated/statement-from-hardwicke
PUBLISHED: 19:03, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:45, 9 May 2013
Legal chambers' 'shock' after human rights lawyer calls for age of consent to be lowered to 13 and an end to the 'persecution of old men' in wake of the Savile scandal
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321473/Legal-chambers-shock-human-rights-lawyer-calls-age-consent-lowered-13-end-persecution-old-men-wake-Savile-scandal.html#ixzz2SncGAz56
*****
FleetStreetFox on why Barbara Hewson is wrong and lowering the age of consent is never the answer
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fleetstreetfox-barbara-hewson-wrong-lowering-1878290
10th May 2013
NO EXCUSE FOR SICKOS [sic]
"But there’s nothing wrong with sparking a debate about the subject.
The age limit of 16 we have in the UK is by no means universal.
In France it’s 15. It’s 14 in Austria. And it’s 13 in Spain.
None of these countries is a cesspit of immorality because of it.
In fact, it’s the UK that has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe.
By all means, let’s have the debate.
After all, we are a democracy. Not the Soviet Union."
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/starsays/view/313762/No-excuse-for-sickos/
Age Of Consent Lowered To 13? Why Is Barbara Hewson Defending Pedophiles? [sic]
http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/5121/20130509/age-consent-lowered-13-barbara-hewson-pedophiles.htm
Barbara Hewson Says She Has Been Threatened Online After Controversial Article
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/09/barbara-hewson-says-she-has-been-threatened-online_n_3244102.html?utm_hp_ref=uk?ncid=GEP
Why did Barbara Hewson choose now to enter the debate so controversially?
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/breaking-stuart-hall-bill-roache-and-owen-oyston-linked-to-top-tory-dirty-tricks-history/
Don't pity the predators [sic] - protect [sic] their victims [sic]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2322749/AMANDA-PLATELL-Dont-pity-predators--protect-victims.html
*****
09. May. 2013. – 12:46:57
ONLY A MISDEMEANOUR
"The paragraph above was copied from the “about” page of "Spiked”. It states very clearly its opinion of those who disagree with its philosophy. It manages to place Karl Marx in opposition to the single person who took to its natural extent the principles he expounded."
Comment:
Surely you are aware, of the sentencing guidelines etc, for the whole range of 'sexual offences'?
... and that misdemeanour=***summary***/either-way offence/caution.
How can Ms Hewson be incorrect?
Many of your other arguments, are at least debatable/non sequiturs, but this will do, for now.
The OSC
TheJusticeofthePeace
10. May. 2013. @ 10:22:07
"As far as I am aware there is no longer a classification of "misdemeanour" in English law. The term is current in the American legal system. Therefore I use the word in its colloquial sense, "any minor offence or transgression" "
Comment:
Indeed, we have provided, what 'we' (at least, Ms Hewson, as a barrister) mean, by the term, today.
In the 'colloquial sense' (almost always dangerous and misleading), such actions are 'minor offences or transgressions', in the scheme of things, as evidenced by legality and sentencing.
Remember, that such actions have to be objectively-decided, as 'sexual' (SOA 2003), and sometimes they will not be, thus, not even against the law.
The OSC
http://thejusticeofthepeace.blog.co.uk/2013/05/09/only-a-misdemeanour-15911180/
*****
PUBLISHED: 22:14, 15 May 2013 | UPDATED: 00:32, 16 May 2013
Celebrities in the dock and the affair with a teacher that makes me queasy about always blaming the older man
"'I had just turned 16 and never had a proper boyfriend'
The moment I confessed to my geography teacher that I loved him will forever be etched on my mind.
I'd stood, for about an hour, in the corridor outside his office, plucking up the courage to knock on the door and reveal the full intensity of my feelings.
In truth, I had no idea how he would reciprocate. He'd been teaching me for several months since I'd joined the sixth form of a private school for my A-levels - having done spectacularly badly in my exams the year before at another school where we lived in Somerset.
From the first day of term when I walked into his form room and clocked his age (mid-30s) and slightly dishevelled hair, I had felt the unmistakable stirrings of teenage lust.""
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2325145/Celebrities-dock-affair-teacher-makes-queasy-blaming-older-man.html
Age of consent should be lowered to 13 to stop persecution of old men and sex assault victims SHOULDN'T get anonymity, says leading barrister
">Barbara Hewson is a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London
>She described Operation Yewtree arrests as a 'grotesque spectacle'
>Claimed disgraced Stuart Hall's crimes were 'low level misdemeanors'
>NSPCC said her 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views 'beggars belief'
Top barrister Barbara Hewson has claimed the age of consent should be lowered to 13 to protect older men in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal
The age of consent for sex should be lowered to 13-years-old in a bid to end the 'persecution of old men' in the wake of the Savile sex abuse scandal, a top female barrister has argued.
Lawyer Barbara Hewson described the arrests of celebrities such as Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis, Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford under Operation Yewtree as a 'grotesque spectacle' adding it had 'nothing to do with justice or the public interest'.
Ms Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, described the crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall as 'low level misdemeanours' which would not normally be prosecuted.
In an article for online magazine Spiked, Ms Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, also calls for the end of anonymity for complainants.
Children’s charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said to hear such 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views from a highly-experienced barrister 'beggars belief'.
Her comments come as Scotland Yard runs Operation Yewtree, an investigation split into three inquiries into allegations involving deceased presenter Jimmy Savile, involving Savile and others and those involving just others.
A number of high-profile figures have been arrested under Yewtree such as entertainer Rolf Harris, former pop star Gary Glitter, DJ Dave Lee Travis, comedian Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford. All deny any wrongdoing.
Ms Hewson argues that 'the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebs echoes the Soviet Union' and says that it is not difficult to see why some elderly defendants 'conclude that resistance is useless'."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321473/Age-consent-lowered-13-stop-persecution-old-men-sex-assault-victims-SHOULDNT-anonymity-says-leading-barrister.html#ixzz2SmUPcued
Top human rights barrister sparks outrage with call for age of consent to be lowered to 13
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/top-human-rights-barrister-sparks-outrage-with-call-for-age-of-consent-to-be-lowered-to-13-8608794.html
Barbara Hewson, Leading Barrister, Says Age Of Consent Should Be 13 And Criticises Operation Yewtree
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/09/barbara-hewson-says-age-of-consent-should-be-13_n_3242798.html?1368086628&utm_hp_ref=uk
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Yewtree is destroying the rule of law
"With its emphasis on outcomes over process, the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebs echoes the Soviet Union.
I do not support the persecution of old men. The manipulation of the rule of law by the Savile Inquisition – otherwise known as Operation Yewtree – and its attendant zealots poses a far graver threat to society than anything Jimmy Savile ever did.
Now even a deputy speaker of the House of Commons is accused of male rape. This is an unfortunate consequence of the present mania for policing all aspects of personal life under the mantra of ‘child protection’.
We have been here before. England has a long history of do-gooders seeking to stamp out their version of sexual misconduct by force of the criminal law. In the eighteenth century, the quaintly named Society for the Reformation of Manners funded prosecutions of brothels, playwrights and gay men."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13604
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Is this justice, or naming and shaming?
"Every Yewtree arrest generates anti-celeb sneering. But an arrest does not equal guilt, at least not in civilised societies.
Following the arrest of Jimmy Tarbuck on 26 April, it is clear that Operation Yewtree, the operation established to investigate historical allegations of sexual offending against Jimmy Savile and ‘others’, has the potential to be more far reaching than first thought.
The operation was initially established to investigate allegations in three categories: allegations against Savile acting alone; allegations against Savile acting with others; and allegations against ‘others’. This third category has led to the arrest of six individuals since November 2011. These have included William De’Ath, a former BBC producer, although the police have since announced that no further charges will be brought against him. On 19 April, it was revealed that last year Rolf Harris had been arrested and interviewed in relation to the third category of offending. Operation Yewtree has led to the arrest of 13 men in all. Two have been charged: PR agent Max Clifford, and ex-BBC driver David Smith."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13605
Monday 29 April 2013
After Savile: policing as entertainment
"Operation Yewtree isn’t about solving crime – it’s more like a reality TV format where the police’s aim is to thrill the paedo-fearing public."
http://www.spiked-online.com/site/article/13580/
Savile inquiry shows that sometimes, there can be smoke without fire
http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/612/
Is questioning tweeting teens or investigating historical crimes the best use of police time?
http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/610/
*****
May 9, 2013
The Family Liaison Officer
"Not just Police forces, foreign and home grown, he criticises anyone who dares to comment on where his methods are taking our long established legal system. He demands their censure.
https://twitter.com/mwilliamsthomas
What has sparked his censure of this respected barrister?
She has long been pointing out the dangers present in our Family courts which have adopted a ‘therapeutic jurisprudence’ approach, resulting in the restriction of the right to due process, the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty, the right to be tried in public, the right to confront one’s accusers, and the right to ‘equality of arms’ (that is, not to be tried under significantly less advantageous conditions that those enjoyed by one’s opponent). Other protections, such as restrictions on the use of hearsay evidence, the right to consult the expert of one’s choice, and even the right to communicate in confidence with one’s lawyers or one’s MP, have been placed in second place to the sense that ‘neutral professionals’ were working in the best interests of the child and should not be hampered by outdated technicalities.
Those who have seen their families rent asunder, new born babies snatched from their Mother’s arms following allegations by those ‘neutral professionals’ made in secret courts, or seen loved ones secretly deprived of their liberty by the Court of Protection, have long hailed her a heroine. She is an expert in the field. Yesterday she penned a cogent and well argued article pointing out that this therapeutic jurisprudence was being applied to the field of historic sex abuse. She criticised the methods that those involved with the current Yewtree investigation – which of course includes Mark Williams-Thomas, are using. She pointed out the inherent dangers to our legal system.
Within hours the Press Officer for the NSPCC was demanding that her article be either reworded or removed. They threatened to ‘approach news desks’ (what with, we know not!). Other commenters were more graphic, calling for her ‘to be raped’ and ‘hunted into obscurity’. It is heretical to call into question the methods by which the modern moral crusaders attempt to define abuse. Williams-Thomas himself called for her professional body to intervene – because she called for debate on where this new mode of justice is taking us?
I am reminded for some reason of Henry VIII. He was hugely critical of the Catholic church when they refused to reform themselves in line with his demands. He because hysterical with those who criticised him, denouncing them as heretics, demanding their heads roll, or sacking their homes and churches, as he rebuilt a ‘new’ church of which he was head, that developed new beliefs and rules and regulations.
However, it would be unfair to draw a comparison between the majestic figure of Henry VIII and Williams-Thomas; after all, he was but a pathological egotist whose only interest was in having his own way, achieving his own ends. He had no empathy with those whose lives he ruined along the way."
http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/the-family-liaison-officer/
Saturday, 11 May, 2013
Hail, an improbable age of consent heroine!
"Heroes, or heroines, do not come much more improbable than lawyer Barbara Hewson. Who would have thought that this champion of women’s rights, with a reputation to protect as a successful, high-profile advocate in leading cases, would suddenly throw caution to the winds and call very publicly for the age of consent to be lowered to 13, as she has done this week?
It’s a British story, and it has been all over the media here, replete with predictable reactions, including “shock” at the large London law firm where she is one of many barristers, who are all self-employed members of the “chambers”, or law practice team. It all kicked off with an article by Hewson in the lively libertarian online journal Spiked, to which sociologist Frank Furedi is a regular contributor: see After Savile: Policing as entertainment, mentioned here recently."
http://tomocarroll.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/hail-an-improbable-age-of-consent-heroine/
Vested Interests ...
9th May 2013
Statement from Hardwicke Chambers
"We are shocked by the views expressed in Barbara Hewson’s article in Spiked (8 May 2013).
We did not see or approve the article pre-publication and we completely dissociate ourselves from its content and any related views she may have expressed via social media or any other media outlets."
http://www.hardwicke.co.uk/unrelated/statement-from-hardwicke
PUBLISHED: 19:03, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:45, 9 May 2013
Legal chambers' 'shock' after human rights lawyer calls for age of consent to be lowered to 13 and an end to the 'persecution of old men' in wake of the Savile scandal
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321473/Legal-chambers-shock-human-rights-lawyer-calls-age-consent-lowered-13-end-persecution-old-men-wake-Savile-scandal.html#ixzz2SncGAz56
*****
FleetStreetFox on why Barbara Hewson is wrong and lowering the age of consent is never the answer
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fleetstreetfox-barbara-hewson-wrong-lowering-1878290
10th May 2013
NO EXCUSE FOR SICKOS [sic]
"But there’s nothing wrong with sparking a debate about the subject.
The age limit of 16 we have in the UK is by no means universal.
In France it’s 15. It’s 14 in Austria. And it’s 13 in Spain.
None of these countries is a cesspit of immorality because of it.
In fact, it’s the UK that has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe.
By all means, let’s have the debate.
After all, we are a democracy. Not the Soviet Union."
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/starsays/view/313762/No-excuse-for-sickos/
Age Of Consent Lowered To 13? Why Is Barbara Hewson Defending Pedophiles? [sic]
http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/5121/20130509/age-consent-lowered-13-barbara-hewson-pedophiles.htm
Barbara Hewson Says She Has Been Threatened Online After Controversial Article
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/09/barbara-hewson-says-she-has-been-threatened-online_n_3244102.html?utm_hp_ref=uk?ncid=GEP
Why did Barbara Hewson choose now to enter the debate so controversially?
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/breaking-stuart-hall-bill-roache-and-owen-oyston-linked-to-top-tory-dirty-tricks-history/
Don't pity the predators [sic] - protect [sic] their victims [sic]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2322749/AMANDA-PLATELL-Dont-pity-predators--protect-victims.html
*****
09. May. 2013. – 12:46:57
ONLY A MISDEMEANOUR
"The paragraph above was copied from the “about” page of "Spiked”. It states very clearly its opinion of those who disagree with its philosophy. It manages to place Karl Marx in opposition to the single person who took to its natural extent the principles he expounded."
Comment:
Surely you are aware, of the sentencing guidelines etc, for the whole range of 'sexual offences'?
... and that misdemeanour=***summary***/either-way offence/caution.
How can Ms Hewson be incorrect?
Many of your other arguments, are at least debatable/non sequiturs, but this will do, for now.
The OSC
TheJusticeofthePeace
10. May. 2013. @ 10:22:07
"As far as I am aware there is no longer a classification of "misdemeanour" in English law. The term is current in the American legal system. Therefore I use the word in its colloquial sense, "any minor offence or transgression" "
Comment:
Indeed, we have provided, what 'we' (at least, Ms Hewson, as a barrister) mean, by the term, today.
In the 'colloquial sense' (almost always dangerous and misleading), such actions are 'minor offences or transgressions', in the scheme of things, as evidenced by legality and sentencing.
Remember, that such actions have to be objectively-decided, as 'sexual' (SOA 2003), and sometimes they will not be, thus, not even against the law.
The OSC
http://thejusticeofthepeace.blog.co.uk/2013/05/09/only-a-misdemeanour-15911180/
*****
PUBLISHED: 22:14, 15 May 2013 | UPDATED: 00:32, 16 May 2013
Celebrities in the dock and the affair with a teacher that makes me queasy about always blaming the older man
"'I had just turned 16 and never had a proper boyfriend'
The moment I confessed to my geography teacher that I loved him will forever be etched on my mind.
I'd stood, for about an hour, in the corridor outside his office, plucking up the courage to knock on the door and reveal the full intensity of my feelings.
In truth, I had no idea how he would reciprocate. He'd been teaching me for several months since I'd joined the sixth form of a private school for my A-levels - having done spectacularly badly in my exams the year before at another school where we lived in Somerset.
From the first day of term when I walked into his form room and clocked his age (mid-30s) and slightly dishevelled hair, I had felt the unmistakable stirrings of teenage lust.""
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2325145/Celebrities-dock-affair-teacher-makes-queasy-blaming-older-man.html
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