Judging Roy Moore

I have been giving some though to the allegations against Roy Moore.

Even before these allegations were made, I already believed Roy Moore is one of the few politicians around even less qualified for office than Donald Trump. Unlike Trump, Roy Moore has already been removed from office for misconduct not once, but twice. His misconduct was not some trivial nonsense not related to his job – he was removed because he refused to follow orders from higher courts. When any government official refuses to obey lawful court orders, that’s bad enough. But Moore was a Justice on the State Supreme Court whose refusal to follow orders disrespected the very office he held, and that shows a lack of character and integrity.

Now, I do not for one minute think the Washington Post made these allegations up in an effort to discredit the judge. Their investigation was very thorough. They interviewed over 30 people in order to corroborate the allegations. They were very transparent and complete in their reporting. Regardless of whether you agree with their editorial board on its opinions, the news department at the Post is completely separate from the editorial board, and has a stellar reputation for its integrity and professionalism that runs back many decades.

I also believe the women who made these allegations. They have nothing to gain by coming forward at this time. Their stories are believable, and the dates and times match up with verified events. What makes these women even more believable is that their allegations do not include actual rape or forced sexual acts other than one attempt to get the girl to touch his underwear. If one were to make these stories up, the more lurid and outrageous the behavior, the greater the slander would be.

But here is where I have some issues:

In this country, we are innocent until proven guilty. Since the statute of limitations has long since run out on all of these allegations, there will be no criminal charges, and no trial to prove his guilt.
I realize that we are not talking about legal prosecutions. We are talking about public opinion and an upcoming election. But I would still like to know the whole story before passing judgement.

The timing of these allegations immediately arouses some suspicion. After all, it’s been 40 years. Why now? It’s easy to think that these women came forward because of a political agenda, but I doubt that. At least one of them appears to be Republican and voted for Trump in the past election. A more credible explanation for the timing is that it seems to coincide with the current changing of attitudes toward sexual harassment we are seeing with the release of allegations against other public figures in the past few weeks.

There is another point to consider. Unlike the allegations against Weinstein, Spacey, Trump, C.K., and others whose sexual improprieties were much more recent and continued until the allegations were made public, all of the allegations against Moore allegedly occurred 40 years ago, and there are no allegations of his behaving inappropriately (sexually) since that time. By all accounts, he has been happily married and faithful for over 35 years.

However, he was no kid when these acts allegedly happened. He was 30 years old, and an attorney. He definitely should have known better.

But how appropriate is it to judge and punish someone for alleged bad acts that occurred forty years ago, but has led an exemplary life since that time? There is a reason we have statutes of limitations on almost all crimes except murder. Had any of these women come forward back then, he could have been properly tried, convicted, punished, and given a chance to rebuild his life.

In this case, however, it may indeed be appropriate to consider these allegations. For, if they are true, we are not talking about a mistake or a lapse in judgement. We are talking about a man in a position of power taking sexual advantage of children. This shows a complete lack of character. While you can atone for bad acts and not repeat them, you cannot change your character; you can only mask it. And let’s not forget it was the children’s fear of his power over them that prevented them from coming forward at the time.

I don’t live in Alabama, and I won’t be voting in that election. The voters of Alabama will have to make up their own minds as whether to believe the women or believe Judge Moore. It may come down to a question of character, and, as I stated at the beginning of this post, Judge Moore already demonstrated on at least two occasions that he is not a man of character and integrity.