SEX AND THE LAW

The Great Sex Debate continues to roar in the law.  We have recently seen an increase in women suing large law firms for pay suppression, a national debate judge getting to the legal community .

​We continue to see moms and dads blaming gender on custody and support issues, fueling the emotional stress of custody cases and largely serving to harm children , who will grow up blaming one gender or another fro various problems in the world, a very dangerous  place for society to go.

What About Sex and the Law?

Are our gender norms and mores so set that it will be  impossible to adjust our legal system to a state of true gender neutrality when it comes to questions involving sex?

• ​Can our minds wrap around a women being guilty of Domestic Violence ?
• Can we believe emotional abuse and financial abuse are just as harmful as physical abuse?
  
• Will we always believe a man must be guilty of Domestic Violence so we shy away from defending any man who may be falsely accused of a DV crime?
  
• ​Can our minds wrap around the concept that a dad is equally capable of caring for a young child as a mother?
• ​Do we always believe men are the most competent to run a business?
• Do we think women are not capable of professional success unless they are " sleeping their way to the top "?
  
• ​Do we still think that the last time you had sex with a spouse is significant to determining when a marriage legally  ended?
• Can we believe that a good father might not be molesting a child simply because a mother claims he did during a divorce?
  
• Can we believe that a mother fighting to see her child , or protect the child from a parent she knows to be a child molester,  is not engaging in Parental Alienation,  but is simply trying to protect he child  ?
  
• Can we believe that people over 60 are still having sex ?
  
• Can we believe that a judge might abuse their power in order to engage in a sexual relationship  , creating a conflict of interest that judge might not want to disclose?
  

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​Brad Baugh, nefarious Santa Clara County lawyer continues to ask women and men during depositions when was the last time they had sex with their former mate.  Brad Baugh knows this question has no legal basis related to date of separation , as it used to, however, Mr. Baugh asks such questions to intimidate and embarrass an opposing side, an unscrupulous strategy in litigating his divorce cases.

​If  Mr.. Baugh asks such a question of a man, and the man had experienced sexual dysfunction during marriage, he might be embarrassed to report in the public domain the last time he was able to have sex with his wife.

 In the alternative when Mr. Baugh asks such a question of a woman, he clearly  does so to  reduce her to the 1950's mentality that a woman had a duty to maintain the sexual needs of her spouse, and if she did  not , there must be something wrong with her.

​The sex question  no longer has any legal basis in determining date of separation during a divorce  and lawyers who continue to use it, are engaging in acts of moral turpitude.

​ What about Judges? How does the Great Sex Debate impact them ? An article recently published on Law.com,  titled : Is There a Roger Ailes Lurking in Your Firm ? ,  may provide some insight.

The article addresses why it is so hard for women in law  firms to bring gender based claims, stating , in part:
Part of the reason bad behavior by powerful men continues is that women are reluctant to report it—and for good reason. Stanford Law School professor Deborah Rhode writes in Harvard Business Review on Aug. 10:
“Research in ‘What Women Want’ [Rhode’s book] indicates that only about 5 to 15 percent of victims formally complain of harassment and only 3 percent of cases end up in litigation. Major barriers to reporting include guilt, shame, fears of retaliation, concerns about loss of privacy, and doubts that an effective response will be forthcoming.”

​However, what is more interesting is the article's touching on how we respond to sex and sexual harassment issues based on our age and demographics. The article begins with :  


Were you truly that shocked about the allegation that CEO Roger Ailes hit up Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson and other female employees for sex?
I think that might depend on how old you are. If you’re 50 or over, Ailes’ behavior might not be entirely surprising. Though Ailes’s alleged behavior lacked finesse even by the antiquated standards of the 1980s, I bet many women in the pre-Anita Hill era experienced or witnessed some icky stuff that would be considered unthinkable today. (Ailes resigned recently, after the network hired Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to investigate the allegations.)

​So since most judges ( perhaps all ) , are men over 50 , what does this mean for the Great Sex Debate in our legal system? 

Are judges more apt to be biased against a stay- at- home dad?
Are judges more likely to think women shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about complex business matters?

Are judges less likely to take the expert test0omy of a man or women seriously when the person has broken the traditional gender bias roles in a profession? For example, will  a judge think less of the testimony of a male nurse , or a female CPA? What about men or women lawyers, are there dangerous patterns there?

​It is time to bring our legal system into the new age. We can't  fix the gender bias issues that continue to plague our legal system if we don't talk about them.

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