Last week, Deborah M. Weissman (UNC) published in the Raleigh News & Observer an op-ed entitled Due Process Should Apply to Victims, Too. Here is an excerpt:
President Donald Trump recently announced that he favors due process of law. In this instance, however, his concern was on behalf of powerful men who have faced public allegations of gender violence and sexual harassment. * * * Domestic violence victims and advocates know full well the benefit of procedural justice. When administered in a fair and respectful manner, it provides a sense of legitimacy about the law, which in turn serves to encourage people to obey the law. Procedural justice requires all parties in a legal matter to be able to state their case, to be heard, and to be treated with the dignity we might expect to be an inherent characteristic of an unbiased judiciary. * * *
Judges often refuse to consider the full relief that victims require to stay safe, repeating a refrain that “granting custody in DVPO cases is something I don’t do.” Judicial demeanor often is a factor in whether a case is properly heard. Judges may display boredom, appear impatient, or otherwise indicate an eagerness to hurry through the proceedings with little “due process” accorded to either the victim or the perpetrator….Would that the president tweet about that.
Read the full op-ed here.
