Tara Reade's public incident report does not mention Joe Biden by name.

[thucythucy]

75. Rape Shield laws--

--the ones that I'm familiar with anyway--protect rape survivors from having their past sexual experiences brought out in court as a way to intimidate or discredit their testimony during trial.

They don't prevent defense from presenting any and all evidence that might otherwise undermine an alleged victim's testimony.

The defense is allowed, for instance, to cross examine an alleged victim about his belief that he is from another planet, or to point out that he was previously convicted of perjury.

Neither do they prevent defense from questioning inconsistencies in the account of the assault, including contradictions of previous statements. The prosecution might then present testimony on how this might be consistent with rape trauma syndrome, or on re-examination ask the victim to explain such inconsistencies or contradictions.

But the laws aren't a carte blanche preventing any and all hostile questioning. At least, that was my understanding back in the day when I volunteered at my local rape crisis center.

I admit that it's sometimes difficult to draw the line between judicious examination of an alleged assault and victim blaming, in balancing the rights of a defendant and those of an alleged survivor.