Op-Ed by Catherine J. Frompovich

Are the current accusations “coming out of the woodwork” regarding sexual harassment that occurred umpteen years ago akin to shouting “Fire” in a crowded venue when, in reality, there is NO fire?

Furthermore, if some of such accusations were, in fact, “true,” normally they could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations timelines involved.  So what’s up?

First and foremost, I do not criticize – but certainly admire – women who have the moral integrity to come forward and make their claims with full disclosure, especially their REAL LEGAL names, the calendar date(s) of the ‘happenstance(s)’ involved, and provide a notarized, written statement, plus be agreeable to taking a lie detector test.  Those types of sexual harassment reports should be considered legitimate and also be required by agencies and law enforcement.

Why?  Anything else, I think, ought to be considered in the light of many possible reasons, including “gotcha,” “get even,” or possibly to become “last chance strategies” used to destroy political opponents, such as may be the case in the Judge Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

That would include members of Congress who ‘sat’ upon incriminating information for months, but not take it in to the public forum!  They, too, ought to be questioned as to their actions and reasons for taking them.   Yes; No?

Furthermore, it is my opinion if investigative reporters were to dig into most politicians past, current members of Congress past, or most teens growing up past actions, when hormones take over rational thinking, there would be untold numbers of #MeToo reports that would crash websites, and literally take down most communication routes between those reporting such harassments and the agencies taking reports.

Aren’t there realistic and legal differences between asking for, alluding to, or sexual indiscretion ‘persuasions’ from actual implementation, performance and penetration—especially during teenage years?  Hey, states now are willing to let teens who performed real crimes get out of jail and have their criminal records expunged so they can find work and become taxpayers again! [1,2,3,4,5]

What’s with the Judge Kavanaugh accusations?

As someone who values transparency, I think when a person refuses to identify him- or herself and stands behind the “Anonymous” pseudonym, their accusations ought to be suspect and given the least amount of credibility everywhere, especially in the press, which is considered the “public town square.”

The National Law Journal published “#MeToo Whistleblower Lawyer Makes Waves in Washington – It’s been a busy time for Debra Katz, the D.C. attorney identified as representing the letter-writer roiling Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation this week,” which I think describes the situation I’m trying to point out, and ought to become a classical textbook case in sexual harassment ethics and law.

What do you think?

References:

[1] https://www.shouselaw.com/expunge-criminal-records.html
[2] https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/news/2017/04/07/430095/six-states-leading-charge-second-chance-policies/
[3] https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/new-law-allows-more-md-criminal-records-to-be-wiped/article_6d2cd31e-6c93-11e6-a01a-2345b0bfac78.html
[4] https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/sealing-juvenile-court-records-32228.html
[5] https://www.recordgone.com/expungement-pennsylvania/summary-offense-expungement/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-PTRzcDC3QIVBQaGCh1cNQ2aEAMYASAAEgLmYvD_BwE