4 ms·

In this case, and the case with Andy Rubin, I immediately thought "these people are guilty" - without evidence, without even knowing them or having spoken to th

In this case, and the case with Andy Rubin, I immediately thought "these people are guilty" - without evidence, without even knowing them or having spoken to them or otherwise having any sort of real judgement about their character. I had to step back and realize that I was jumping to a conclusion prematurely. In case you are not familiar with how the law works (outside of the court of social media), an accusation, no matter how believable, is not damning evidence - even when multiple accusations come to light. Objectivity is extremely important in these situations because it has already been demonstrated that our instincts are not impartial. I'm not saying that any given person is or is not guilty, just that they deserve a fair trial.

cjbprime 8y ago
There is nothing wrong with suspecting that they are guilty when there are multiple accusers, because you are a person in the court of social media, and not a judge. It's okay to form an opinion without believing that your opinion should be adopted as a legal conclusion!
- gavanwoolery 8y ago
  It is totally fair to form an opinion, I just hope that people weigh all the evidence first. In many cases, I see people forming verdicts as soon as someone is accused. The other problem is that the details of these cases are often largely obscured for the public, other than what they are willing to publicly state (and often lawyers discourage this).
- quanticle 8y ago
  The problem is that it doesn't take a legal conclusion to ruin someone's life. If enough people form a bad opinion of you, even if those opinions are based off incorrect evidence, then your life is ruined, regardless of what the legal conclusions say.
- insickness 8y ago
  There's an idea that someone would never accuse another of sexual misconduct because there is nothing to gain. Victims are unfortunately still stigmatized. At the same time, there are those who would lie about sexual misconduct for various reasons including attention, revenge and notoriety. The chance of this happening to a public figure increases exponentially.

cjbprime 8y ago

There is nothing wrong with suspecting that they are guilty when there are multiple accusers, because you are a person in the court of social media, and not a judge. It's okay to form an opinion without believing that your opinion should be adopted as a legal conclusion!

gavanwoolery 8y ago
It is totally fair to form an opinion, I just hope that people weigh all the evidence first. In many cases, I see people forming verdicts as soon as someone is accused. The other problem is that the details of these cases are often largely obscured for the public, other than what they are willing to publicly state (and often lawyers discourage this).
quanticle 8y ago
The problem is that it doesn't take a legal conclusion to ruin someone's life. If enough people form a bad opinion of you, even if those opinions are based off incorrect evidence, then your life is ruined, regardless of what the legal conclusions say.
insickness 8y ago
There's an idea that someone would never accuse another of sexual misconduct because there is nothing to gain. Victims are unfortunately still stigmatized. At the same time, there are those who would lie about sexual misconduct for various reasons including attention, revenge and notoriety. The chance of this happening to a public figure increases exponentially.