"Why I won't be cheering for old Notre Dame"

[Larkspur]

48. What about the women who falsely accused the Duke Lacrosse team of rape?

Our law says that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. If it followed the Napoleonic code, which states the opposite, we'd have a much higher incarceration rate then we do not, especially among minorities.

Rape is a violent crime, but it is a crime that needs evidence to support claims against the perpetrator because perpetrators are ASSUMED innocent until proven guilty. Accusations ARE NOT EVIDENCE.

There has been much progress in helping victims of rape over the last few decades to overcome the stigma and encourage them to bring charges against their attackers. There were support groups available to the women who accused individuals on the ND football team, but these women chose not to use the help available to them. That makes me, a woman, suspect their real intentions about their accusations. In Seeberg's case, she seemed to show signs of bipolar disorder. I have a friend who has a daughter who was diagnosed with bipolar disease. As long as she is on her meds, she's fine, but if she stops taking them she becomes suicidal. Because Seeberg killed herself, she could not be cross-examined to test the validity of her accusations.

The law must find out the truth, not coddle victims, who like the women in the Duke case brought false charges against innocent people. Those women also hurt real rape victims by their lies.

What Melinda should have written about, if she was really concerned about justice in college sexual assault cases, was the differences between how Duke and Notre Dame handled sexual assault accusations and have both schools improved their procedures on handling them or not. Maybe she should also have written about the support groups and if they have the resources to help sexual assault and rape victims. If they suffer from lack of resources, can the colleges do more to fund them? But she chose to continue impugning the reputation of the University of Notre Dame, the unnamed football player, whom she gave zero chance to defend himself, and the rest of the football team based largely on hearsay. That's shoddy writing.