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Post by Hamish Shepherd on Aug 2, 2016 3:28:27 GMT
How does false rape accusations such as in the book To Kill a Mockingbird in the past affect how society views rape accusations in modern times. By Hamish Shepherd
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Post by zacksciallo on Aug 2, 2016 4:06:08 GMT
Now some choose not to believe them because there are so many accusations. The number of False rapes that are reported are around 10% but to be honest it's probably more like 20%. Some thing just as serious as rape would be child abuse, but that falls far below 10%. So it's weird that lots of people would like to believe any accusation that is made. Anyone who doesn't automatically believe an accusation of rape is realistically just a good American. One of the most sacred principles in the American criminal justice system, holding that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. In other words, the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, each essential element of the crime charged. Now on the other hand the false rape accusation we see is completely different in that time period because the trial didn't see the case. All the jury saw was Tom Robinson's color and a way to lock him up. The jury's readiness to believe the accusations is just as disheartening as modern day rape accusations. So I guess we have made a lot of progress against racism in general but looks like people treat modern day rape accusations are treated the same in court, unfortunately.
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Post by zakpasq on Aug 3, 2016 19:22:58 GMT
I believe rape accusations have such a larger affect today because usually when the cops get a suspect for a rape case or arrest someone they aren't usually wrong about that person and the guy the cops are thinking of have something to do with the case, so when people see that they automatically think he's the guy that did it.
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Post by rykerseats on Aug 3, 2016 19:54:06 GMT
I agree with zakpasq. The cops back then were not usally wrong but Bob Ewell saw an easy way out of trouble and got the whole town on his side. People are not usually convicted or brought to court without hard evidence that he or she did it. As what zakpasq said if people are accused with rape people think it must be him because there must have been good evidence.
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Post by tuckertravins on Aug 6, 2016 21:27:26 GMT
The case shown in TKAM and cases today are very different. In TKAM, the conflict really was between the black man (Tom Robinson), and the white girl (Mayella). Nowadays, it really it just between the possible rapist and the possible victim. There are tons of false rape accusations, and to be honest, there really isn't enough punishment. In some states, the accuser can just face a year in jail, while the person they accused could be jailed for life for something they didn't even do. On example has to do with the Bill Cosby case. Although he is undoubtedly guilty, there were multiple people who saw his case as an easy way to money or attention, so they accused him of sexually assaulting them. Some were found to have false allegations, and were punished accordingly, but there needs to be a bigger punishment, so people will stop falsely accusing innocent people.
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Post by Noah Durrance on Aug 6, 2016 22:56:59 GMT
I agree that the case in TKAM was about race. It was because Tom Robinson was black that he was automatically suspected of violating a woman. This is ultimately what led to his imprisonment and eventual death. In this situation, the concept of rape has very little to do with it. Anybody sensible could understand that Tom Robinson was not capable of the rape, with his "rubber-like left hand", and was just a scapegoat for Bob Ewell, the true criminal. In this situation, the rape exists, it is just put on a other person because of their race. Today things are drastically different. Color does not have as much of as way in the legal system anymore, so this question is an odd one, because modern rape and this trial are very different. As for how it is treated in modern society, it is still a problem. While false rape accusations are horrible, as they can destroy one's life, they are in the minority. Zack's statistic is right, and to Tucker, I would not call 10% "tons of false accusation". If there is a problem at all, it is rapes that are never reported at all. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 36% of rape, and 26% of all sexual assaults are reported. That means there is an overwhelming majority (64% of rapes, 74% of all sexual assaults) of a despicable crime that are not even reported, let alone convicted. Despite these numbers, the affect history has had on rape is more awareness and more understanding of the victim's mentality. In TKAM, while as I said earlier, it is very different, Mayella does share many similarities with modern rape victims. She has a bad home life, lives n poverty, and has little self-esteem. Atticus's line of questioning helps prove this. In his questioning, "The jury learned the following things: their relief check was far from enough to feed the family, and there was a strong suspicion papa drank it up anyway". these answers lead the reader to understand that even though Mayella was lying on the stand to convict an innocent man, she was only doing so because she was terrified of the real threat; her father. It leads to a more complex character and makes her somewhat forgivable.
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Post by laurenschuetz on Aug 10, 2016 17:36:14 GMT
I agree with what Tucker said. The reason of the trial between Tom and Mayella was because of rape however I feel as if though it was more of a competition to see if a black man could win. Today when there is case involving rape, it as viewed as rapist and victim and is much more fair.
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Post by kaylagarcia on Aug 10, 2016 21:10:10 GMT
False accusations for any crime, rape included, cloud society's views on women. They make women appear to be less trustworthy when someone is accused of a crime they did not commit. For victims of these heinous crimes, it is unfair. People begin to have bias against women when false accusations are made. It is especially unjust when an innocent party is found guilty (such as Tom Robinson was). Some women may falsely accuse someone of rape or sexual assault when they are ashamed or worried about what actually occurred. As far as accusations against a specific race or sexual orientation go, I believe society is slowly progressing. Though the process of eliminating all biases from the judicial system will still take decades, it has some a long way. We no longer convict someone solely based on race; there must be reasonable evidence to suggest the party is guilty.
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Post by baileebrianne2573 on Aug 10, 2016 21:19:21 GMT
In the case between Tom and Mayella is definitely more about the color of Tom's skin than rape. Tom is automatically more of a suspect because he's a black man and racism was much more evident in those times. While times have definitely changed there is still racism in the justice system. Rape accusations are viewed differently in today's society. They are looked into more extensively but they are still not always fair. Rape accusations are not always taken seriously and victim blaming is real, and a big problem. I agree with what Lauren said about the case being more about just seeing if a black man could win a case. Today rape cases are about rape, not skin color.
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Post by benswanson00 on Aug 13, 2016 17:06:53 GMT
I feel as if today's society deems rape accusations as not only something serious, but also something where the victim always has the benefit of the doubt. Although they may almost always be telling the truth, you can never fully trust the victim, as the book shows. When the verdict comes down to the victim's word versus the accused word, the victim always seems to win, but, as the book shows, with thorough analysis and skill, it was proved that the victim had been lying, and still won the case.
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Post by jeresabarnett42 on Aug 13, 2016 18:16:29 GMT
Racism was able to be more prevalent in the past, and that is what contributed to Tom Robinson's case ultimately being a case of white vs black. But today, there is less of an overt racial prejudice. Rape accusations are a messy topic, as there are many issues such as false accusations, the influence of alcohol, not believing the victim, allowing some rapists to avoid jail time, and many others. But today, although racism is still present in the justice system, we definitely focus more on the crimes committed rather than boiling it down to nothing but race in most cases.
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Post by xavierkinney on Aug 14, 2016 1:17:37 GMT
I fully agree with Ben with his post on this topic. Rape victims are treated better than some of the other cases because it is something that is horrible that happened. But, they could have lied about it and made them get into trouble when it was not their fault. This happens a lot and currently police have a hard time with it. However, because of this issue he found a way to prove it and they still will not go with his truth. This may seem mean but you cant ever trust the victim or suspect in a crime because you never have the true answer.
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Post by laylar on Aug 14, 2016 3:04:34 GMT
I agree with what Jeresa said on this topic because of the time period that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was set in was before the civil rights movement, so it definitely made the case black verses white. Also a lot of the rape accusations are a tricky topic since there has been many issues with false accusations which cause disbelief when rape accusations aren't false. Even today in our modern justice system it is clear there is still racism which can definitely create prejudice towards those being accused, and this goes to show that even today you can always believe the victim or the suspect.
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Post by romansorrels on Aug 14, 2016 17:05:20 GMT
Today we try to focus more on the accusations of the rape and less on racial bias,however we also tend to look upon a young women who weren't treated correctly with more mercy.
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Post by sierrameisner on Aug 14, 2016 18:05:10 GMT
I believe that in modern society it is based more on evidence than on just an accusation, plus the justice system is more fair because of the fact that we do not racially profile and have fair trials.
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