MountainMornings

Let’s look at the word “Mandatory.” I’ve been hearing it alot lately. Chris Christie stuck his foot in his mouth in London when he said something like, of course, I vaccinate my children, but we have to “Balance” the parents’ rights with public health interests. He’d been asked about the measles outbreak and thought of course it’s all about “Choice.” So women can choose stuff about their families, but only when he says so? Then his office said this:

“At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate.”

Now I was a reporter in a conservative NJ town, and I know what the GOP is thinking. If the government is going to mandate something, they sure as hell better pay for it. Oh, and the less government, the better, blah, blah, blah… But I get that he punted back to states’ rights, it takes him off the hook with his constituents. What I found interesting, is not so much Rand Paul wading into the vaccine “Debate,” which was ludicrous, but my debate with Bob in the car about mandating anything!

I happened to see a headline in our local rag, The Daily Progress: “Toscano softens mandatory reporting aspect of sex assault bill” by K Burnell Evans and Derek Quizon. It seems a bill had been making its way through Richmond that would require all colleges in VA to hand over any sexual assault case to the police. In fact it would punish anyone who knowingly didn’t report said assault with a fine and imprisonment, making this a Class 1 misdemeanor.

So that room mate at Vanderbilt who just rolled over and went back to sleep while his friends continued to rape a girl, filming and laughing all the while, might have to be prosecuted too, right?

And that’s what got me. Comparing Nashville to Charlottesville, two elite Southern schools, two entirely different approaches to rape on campus. When administrators at Vanderbilt discovered, by accident, the security tape showing a naked girl being dragged into a dorm room, they did the right thing. They turned the tape over to the police. They expelled the four football players. There was no second guessing, no panel of peers, no dean in charge of this or that trying to protect the reputation of the university. And these were Vandy football players mind you, not frat boys!

So when House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said “…advocates’ feedback about mandatory reporting prompted him to soften his initial plan,” I had to wonder if we aren’t still blaming the victim. Softening the language in the bill, changing police to say, “OR university police” for example, is just another loophole that lets rapists walk, change schools, and do it all over again.

Many of them (victims) are reluctant to talk about it at all, she said, because they fear an intrusive and traumatic probe by police, or because they’re afraid they will be judged for their actions leading up to the assault — heavy drinking, for example, or dressing in a way that’s seen as provocative.
“Mandatory referral, mandatory reporting to law enforcement really could have a chilling effect,” Kiss said. “It’s got to be about empowering that victim or survivor to do what’s best for them.” http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/toscano-softens-mandatory-reporting-aspect-of-sex-assault-bill/article_f28efc70-aa5d-11e4-96a6-7b26a402a284.html

Did Allison Kiss, director of the Clery Center for Security on Campus, just use code words? The survivor/victim in Nashville didn’t know what happened to her, she was unconscious, she had no idea what was best for her. She thought she actually had a “relationship” with her rapist, and slept with him the next day, made excuses for him initially, until she saw the tape with the three other football players…

Toscano is calling this new bill in VA more of an, “enhanced encouragement” to report sexual assault. Because we have to “Balance” a victim’s right to privacy with the need to expel a rapist from your campus? To prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law? President Sullivan is falling back on balancing federal law with state rights.

This is that space where Libertarian and Liberal meet. NO government – NO mandates! It’s my opinion that an 18 year old girl who has been assaulted should not feel shame, she should tell her story to anyone who will listen, even if she can’t remember what happened. And if bystanders are held to account, maybe just maybe, some one might stop a rape before it happens, might help save the next girl. Instead, “The rules of friendship require that you pick up a half-naked unconscious rape victim from the hallway where your friends left her and return her to her rapist’s bed.” http://www.vox.com/2015/2/2/7963277/vanderbilt-rape-culture

former player Chris Boyd – Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Yes, Chris Christie, sometimes ones government must mandate. Want to know about mandatory reporting laws in your state? https://www.rainn.org/public-policy/laws-in-your-state