Harvard Law Professor: The Trouble with Teaching Rape Law

[Que enspastic]

As long as you don't step foot inside a court in Criminal Law matters why should you need to know it. Envisage a law grad with stellar grades in Finance/Corporate/Banking law who was raped as a kid. He/she could still act as a professionally qualified lawyer with a corporate law firm assuming he/she had covered the main curriculum as prescribed by the legal board of that jurisdiction. You can have a Crim Law exam that doesn't touch sexual assault and instead requires analysis of a burglary turned manslaughter with accessories to the crime - as was the case with mine in 2009. The Board requires you to take credit in Crim Law as part of your qualifications as a lawyer but doesn't specify that an exam must cover a certain subject matter within a course.

 

[Seamus]

[edit]

 

[EvanWilson]

Any lawyers here? Can you pass the bar without knowing this stuff? I certainly hope not, and these simps are pissing away hundreds of thousands of dollars due to cowardice.

You can pass the bar exam, but it will be a little harder because you will probably lose a few points if you do not know a subject area. In the 'typical' state bar exam, you only need to do about as well as about 70% of the other test takers; i.e. most people cluster around a few points. On the MBE (MultiState Bar Exam) part, people usually only need a scaled 135 (out of 200 questions) so you can miss about one third of the questions and still pass. With the scale, even if you only end up with 110 correct, the scale will usually put you into the pass range about 30% of the time. (MBE is one part, the essays are usually the other part of the exam in most states)

 

[Grodin]

If you find any word "triggering", then I don't think you should be allowed to practice law.

 

[AFS]

Some people become lawyers precisely because they were victimized and want to do something about it.

I seriously doubt the people getting "triggered" in these classes have ever faced actual abuse or assault. Especially telling is the fact that this trend of "sensitive" students is on the upswing, while cases of rape and assault are getting less frequent. This tells me these privileged, ultra-sensitive students are full of shit.

 

[porscheguy]

Classes on sexual assault and rape are already included in law school curriculum. Of course it should still be taught - it is a big component in the Criminal Law course.

Having said that, the professor should be mindful that it can be a sensitive subject. At the start of the first class on sexual assault he or she should flag that if anyone feels deeply uncomfortable in this class due to a past traumatic event they can contact someone qualified to handle such issues and work out an appropriate way to deal with it. This precursor on the subject already happens now at most law schools. I'm sure most sexual assault victims would be interested in sitting the course but say in the extreme case someone just can't handle it they should be able to sit out this section and make up the lost credit some other way.

I've got a better idea. Why can't they just cowboy the fuck up and deal with it? That's what adults do. Dealing with shit you don't like is part of the human experience.

 

[eljeffster]

This brings to mind a completely different but totally relevant topic that should be discussed more. How many women are only in these law classes for show, ego, and prestige, and don't really intend to practice law?

From the looks of that story, it seems like that's the case. College is becoming a "finishing school" for upper class women, who get degrees but don't use them. They get married or go into marketing, but are able to say they have that prestigious "law degree."

Law degrees are the new BMWs because education is now an empty status symbol for women.

How do I know? Because I saw the beginnings of this with my Gen X crowd. Parents would push daughters into college -- the same kind of girls who would have been married off a generation before. These girls would take up seats that could have been used by men who would have actually done something with the degree. Almost all the women I went to college with aren't using their degrees.

I can't help but share the worst offender. She was a biology major but when she got out of college decided to work in the restaurant industry temporarily. That became semi-permanent when she had a kid. She then moved into PR for a college. Last I heard she was really into nutrition and working at....Whole Foods.

Keep in mind she had a four-year degree in biology from a top-ranked state school, not a community college. How many men would have benefited from that degree? Guess it looks good on her wall, though. Which is the point with these so-called "law students" who are too squeamish for law.

That's bad enough, but then you have another type of woman who goes to law school. The bitchy kind who really drag down the profession. They are usually thin and hot and use the worst combination of female wiles in order to try to win cases.

On one hand they will say or do anything to win. Common professional courtesies that *should* define the profession are out the window. Decide to play rough though and they wear their female victim status like a halo.

Game of course can overcome their bullshit. Much better to go up against them then a smart capable male lawyer who is all courtesy on the outside and a fierce advocate on the inside.