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Gender-Based Violence And Honest Victim Scripting In The Twitterverse, Francine Banner Sep 2015

Gender-Based Violence And Honest Victim Scripting In The Twitterverse, Francine Banner

Francine Banner

This article critically analyzes Tweets regarding recent allegations of interpersonal violence against celebrities in order to explore societal perceptions of and expectations about alleged victims and perpetrators. The article concludes that Twitter may be viewed as a micro-courtroom in which victims’ veracity and perpetrators’ responses are evaluated, interrogated, and assessed. A key, feminist critique of rape law is that the determination of guilt or innocence of the perpetrator too often hinges on assessment of the character of the victim. This is borne out on Twitter, where the terms “gold digger,” “slut,” and “ho” are engaged to describe those who come …


The Hauntings Of Mamudiyah, Francine Banner, Tyler Wall Feb 2015

The Hauntings Of Mamudiyah, Francine Banner, Tyler Wall

Francine Banner

On March 12, 2006, five American soldiers stationed in Mamudiyah Province, Iraq had a few drinks, played a couple hands of cards, then jogged in staggered formation to nearby Yusufiyah Province, where they systematically murdered Abeer al Janabi her family. The perpetrators have been sentenced, yet, the ghosts of that day continue to haunt us. This essay engages the methodology of haunting investigation in order to explore the ghosts of race, class, and gender as they manifested themselves at Mamudiyah. Exploring trial transcripts, media accounts, and data obtained via interviews with American soldiers, we examine the ways in which these …


Immoral Waiver: Judicial Review Of Intra-Military Sexual Assault Claims, Francine Banner Jan 2013

Immoral Waiver: Judicial Review Of Intra-Military Sexual Assault Claims, Francine Banner

Francine Banner

This essay critiques the application of the Feres doctrine and the policy of judicial deference to military affairs in the context of recent class actions against government and military officials for constitutional violations stemming from sexual assaults in the U.S. military. The Pentagon estimates that 19,000 military sexual assaults occur each year. Yet, in 2011, fewer than two hundred persons were convicted of crimes of sexual violence. In the face of such pervasive and longstanding constitutional violations, this essay argues that the balance of harms weighs heavily in favor of judicial intervention. The piece discusses why, from both legal and …