Roy Moore challenged Alabama law that protects rape victims, documents reveal [View all]

[rpannier]

link:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/14/roy-moore-alabama-law-rape-victims-judge

As chief justice of Alabama’s supreme court, Moore twice argued that the state’s “rape shield” law should not prevent alleged sex offenders from using certain evidence about their underage accusers’ personal lives to discredit them.
The cases were among 10 between 2013 and 2016 where Moore dissented from the court’s majority and sided with alleged offenders who were appealing to the court as part of their efforts to overturn convictions or punishments for sexual crimes.

snip

A review by the Guardian of all decisions issued by the Alabama supreme court during Moore’s second stint found decisions on 16 criminal cases that involved alleged sexual crimes. Moore sided with the offender over state prosecutors in 13 of those cases.
On 10 occasions, this meant dissenting from the majority view of the court’s nine judges. Moore sided with the state in the other three cases.

snip

The rape-shield law also arose in the case of Sherman Tate, a school mentor who was convicted of coercing two 15-year-old female students to touch him sexually. Moore argued in June 2014 that attorneys for Tate should have been allowed to tell jurors that he believed the girls were bisexual and in a relationship together.