HEY, HEY, HEY! TIME TO PAY!
WENDY MURPHY: VERDICT A WIN FOR WOMEN
Nobody was more shocked than I was to hear that Bill Cosby was convicted yesterday in Pennsylvania of drugging and sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman.
I predicted he would be acquitted, or have another hung jury, because Pennsylvania has terrible sexual assault laws, and I suspect Bill Cosby knew the laws and tried to conform his conduct to fall just under the line.
To prove the drugging charge, prosecutors had to show it was done without the victim’s knowledge. Andrea Constand knowingly took drugs from Cosby. To prove the incapacitation charge, prosecutors had to prove Constand was unconscious or asleep. Constand was paralyzed from the drugs but not unconscious. On the third charge, nonconsensual sex assault, the defense was allowed to claim Cosby may have made a mistake because Constand did not say no or resist.
Cosby will no doubt raise all these issues on appeal, and that’s his right. But in the meantime, the jury’s message today should resonate far and wide.
Cosby, “America’s dad,” a rich and powerful popular culture icon who assumed he would never be held accountable, is facing jail time.
Because of today’s verdict, a new page has turned. A legal system notoriously bad at holding men of influence to account when they abuse women has effectively declared an end to that era.
The world has changed, and abusive men everywhere should beware that if Dr. Huxtable can be held accountable, then anyone can be held accountable.
And make no mistake, the word of one woman is enough. Though several of Cosby’s other victims also testified that he drugged and violated them, too, their testimony was admitted only to show that he had an unusual modus operandi. Constand alone delivered the key evidence. Win or lose, Constand would have achieved justice because her voice was heard, and it was loud, clear and strong.
So what is the right sentence for a guy like Cosby?
Sexual violence is the worst crime a person can commit against an individual, short of homicide. And what Cosby did was even more egregious because of the drugging. He essentially rendered his victims temporarily dead, so he could do whatever violence he wanted to do to them, without regard for them as human beings.
Hopefully, the judge will not take pity on the guy because of his age. Lots of older people commit crimes, and many prisoners grow old behind bars. There’s no such thing as a “too old to go to prison” rule, nor should there be as that would effectively reward Cosby for the tactics he used to keep his victims silent all these years.
Had our legal system worked the way it should have many years ago, he would have grown old behind bars. He should count himself lucky. He deserves maximum punishment because he committed maximum harm. It’s that simple.
And all the women he violated deserve a chance to be heard before any sentencing decision is made, to stare him down, and tell him how his cruelty affected her life.
As a judge, I would make it clear to Cosby that he may not care but he will listen.
Cosby’s conviction is an important moment in legal history, not least because it provides a source of hope and strength for other victims, and may inspire them to tell their stories and seek justice for themselves and all women.
It is ironic in all the right ways that Bill Cosby’s legacy will have little to do with his television career, and more to do with the fact that his prolific violence against women helped mobilize people everywhere to come together and demand truth and justice for all women.