JD Journal » sexual assault

WilmerHale Helps in Effort to Pass Landmark Peace Corps Reform Legislation

rebneely — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:00:05 +0000

The United States House of Representatives passed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 on November 1^st. The legislation enacted historic reforms to the Peace Corps’ policies for the prevention of rape and sexual assault of its volunteers and for providing assistance to volunteers who are the victims of sexual assault during their service. The Senate passed the bill on September 26. It has been sent to President Obama, and he is expected to sign it into law.

WilmerHale provided representation for five returned Peace Corps volunteers who were sexually assaulted during their service. The attorneys helped gather and publicize evidence of longstanding, systemic weaknesses in the Peace Corps’ sexual assault prevention and response policies. In addition, the firm provided substantial technical assistance to volunteers and others advocating the newly enacted reforms.

The firm praised Congress for acting, and current Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams for supporting the landmark legislation. WilmerHale’s pro bono team was led by Associates Natalie Adams and Robert Zachary Beasley and Summer Associate Matthew Robinson, and supported by Partners Reginald Brown, Kimberly Parker, Eric Mogilnicki and John Valentine.

Senators Isakson and Boxer and Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, Poe and Tsongas provided congressional leadership. Pro bono public relations support was provided by Michele Davis and Anthony Coley of Brunswick Group.

The bill was named for a Peace Corps volunteer killed in Benin in 2009.

According to the November 2nd legaltimes.com article, “Congress Passes Wilmer-Supported Legislation to Protect Peace Corp Volunteers”, the bill would require the Peace Corps to provide “comprehensive sexual assault risk-reduction and response training” and information about what should be done if a volunteer becomes the victim of sexual assault. It would also establish a sexual assault advisory council and require the agency to keep track of the incidents of sexual assault against volunteers.

Reginald Brown, a Wilmer partner and head of the firm’s congressional investigation practice was quoted as saying: “We are thrilled that Congress and the Peace Corps responded so quickly and comprehensively.”

Brown is a former Peace Corps volunteer; he served in Micronesia from 1990 to 1992. Former Peace Corps volunteers who had been victims of sexual assault contacted him, and from there, he put together a team of lawyers led by second-year associate Natalie Adams.

Brown was quoted as saying: “Natalie led this engagement as a second-year associate. Helping volunteers tell the story of their experiences, preparing for hearings and media events, negotiating with a federal agency and shepherding through legislation in less than a year is quite an accomplishment. Ultimately, the power of our clients’ stories and the sacrifice of Kate Puzey – who died trying to advocate for assault victims – made this legislation a reality.”

With over 1,100 attorneys, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP has twelve offices across the USA, Europe and Asia. The firm has consistently distinguished itself as a leader in pro bono representation.

Sexual Abuse Charges Mount Against Federal Judge

Erik Even — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:43:38 +0000

US District Judge Samuel B. Kent of the Southern District of Texas, who faces trial on in Houston on three federal criminal charges, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three additional charges in a superseding indictment.

The indictment brings one count of aggravated sexual abuse, one count of abusive sexual contact and one count of obstruction of justice against Kent.

Kent, a longtime Galveston federal judge who has been hearing civil cases in Houston for the past year, is free on a personal recognizance bond.

Federal prosecutors were granted a 55-minute closed-court session on Wednesday. The prosecutors, and Kent’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, cannot speak to the press under a gag order by presiding Judge Roger Vinson. DeGuerin has complained publicly and in court about the gag order.

In September 2008, Kent pleaded not guilty to the original three charges, which are two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse. Those charges stem from a complaint filed by Kent’s former case manager in Galveston, Cathy McBroom, but the alleged victim in the superseding indictment is only identified as “Person B.”

Here’s where the story gets a bit NSFW:

The government alleges that on one or more occasions, Kent, while at the US Post Office and Courthouse in Galveston, “did engage and attempt to engage in contact between his mouth and Person B’s vulva by force and did penetrate and attempt to penetrate the genital opening of Person B by a hand and finger by force with an intent to abuse, humiliate, degrade and arouse and gratify the sexual desire of any person.”

As to the new abusive sexual conduct charge, the indictment alleges that during the same time frame, Kent “did engage in the intentional touching, directly and through the clothing, of the genitalia, groin, breast, inner thigh, and buttocks of Person B with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, and arouse and gratify the sexual desire of any person.”

The maximum punishment on the new abusive sexual contact charge is two years in prison. The maximum punishment on the new aggravated sexual abuse charge is life in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, and the maximum punishment on the new obstruction of justice charge is 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

Kent denies the charges.

Update: UM Law School Student in Sex Scandal Speaks Out

Erik Even — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:19:11 +0000

We posted last week about the University of Michigan Law School student who tried her hand at prostitution, and was allegedly assaulted by a UM professor.

This week the student involved has written anonymously about her ordeal; the entire message is reposted on the Feministe blog:

A month after I was assaulted, I attempted suicide over the whole mess. I’ve been unable to sleep or study, for fear of this story being published. I’ve had PTSD rape dreams. Everything I’ve worked for my entire life, personally, academically, professionally, has been harmed, and I’ve spent $20,000 trying to put it all right again. And I have, in fact, been prosecuted and will be required to pay a debt to society. All I can hope is that the bar will see that this was an aberrant moment in the life of a severely depressed, suicidal, isolated person.

She has endured a great deal of abuse online, where people can express themselves freely with little chance of retribution; so they tend to say and write things they would never say or write under other circumstances. Even my post about this was a bit glib, as it seemed that both individuals, the student and the professor, were going to get what they deserved.

As reading this woman’s story makes clear, this was a real event involving real people and of course it’s all messy and complicated. And it’s nice to see people in the comments saying supportive things (I suspect the Feministe site is deleting the trolls):

You are an amazing woman who did absolutely nothing wrong and you should not have to apologize for anything. You, like most survivors, are experiencing some of the worst effects of trying to seek justice in this society. You deserve understanding, respect and help from your community, not this public skinning from strangers and colleagues.

But… really? Nothing wrong?

Lawyers are supposed to uphold the law, not break it. Of course lawyers smoke pot, speed, tear the labels off mattresses and try to sell US Senate seats. But prostitution? Trying to make money, no matter how dearly needed, by selling your body shows a lack of judgment far beyond what I’d like to see in a prospective lawyer. Or doctor or teacher. Even youth doesn’t excuse something that drastic.

Being a prostitute is actually worse than, not preferable to, having to drop out of law school due to money issues. This wasn’t a dumb mistake — forgetting your keys is a dumb mistake. This was a dumb life decision. Not that I haven’t made those — but then I had to pay for them.

As to the other issue — I know I’ll get slammed for even going in this direction, so let me make clear:

NO ONE DESERVES TO BE RAPED OR ASSAULTED, NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO. EVER.

But. And there is a but.

This woman invited this man into her life. This wasn’t a date rape. The assumed relationship was prostitute and john. She created that relationship. She made herself vulnerable to an (allegedly, and I suspect truthfully) evil man who was likely to believe that, just because he paid her money, he could do anything he wanted to her. That’s what prostitutes are for, and that’s why it’s bad to be one. Not morally bad — stupid. It’s not like Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman.”

I’m conflicted about whether prostitution should be legal or not. One the one hand, I don’t like the government telling two consenting adults when and why they can have sex. On the other hand, it’s the government’s responsibility to regulate commerce, especially when that commerce spreads disease and leads to endemic violence and drug use. But maybe those things wouldn’t happen so often if the practice were legalized and regulated. I really don’t know.

But this woman did do something wrong. Not so much morally or ethically, but certainly it was foolish and self-destructive. And illegal. She did not deserve the violence to which she was subjected. And she certainly deserves for her rape allegations to be taken seriously by the police.