WASHINGTON / August 14, 2024 – False allegations have become a major problem in the United States (1). A national survey revealed that 10% of Americans report they have been falsely accused of abuse. The representative survey found 13% of males and 8% of females had been targeted by a false allegation of domestic abuse during their lifetimes. (2)
In 2015, Yale University student Saifullah Khan was accused of rape by Jane Doe. News of the accusation became public knowledge, triggering fevered calls for his immediate removal from the campus. The case was then brought to criminal court, where he was eventually acquitted of sexual assault.
But inexplicably, Khan was later found responsible for sexual misconduct under Yale’s flawed Title IX proceedings. The man was expelled from Yale in 2019. These contradictory decisions prompted him to sue both Yale and Jane Doe for $110 million for wrongful defamation. (3)
Typically, witnesses in criminal cases are afforded immunity from defamation lawsuits over what they say during the proceedings. But the Connecticut Supreme Court determined that Yale’s campus disciplinary process did not offer the same protections as a criminal process, that it was not “quasi-judicial.” (4) So the Court allowed Khan to move forward with his defamation complaint against Jane Doe.
In addition to his lawsuit against Yale and false accuser Doe, Khan filed another defamation complaint in May 2024. He is suing attorney Jennifer Becker and 15 advocacy organizations concerning their amicus brief to the Connecticut Supreme Court that labeled him a “rapist,” even though he had already been cleared of the heinous charges in a criminal court. His lawsuit charged the groups with “defamation, false light, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and abuse of process action.” (5) The damage to his good name and reputation had been done, and the harmful amicus brief still remains on the Internet. (6)
Feminist activists apparently believe they should be able to make accusations of “rape” or “sexual assault” in bad faith and not face legal consequences, even after the accused person is found innocent in a court of law. Defamation lawsuits are one of our nation’s strongest protections against false allegations of a heinous crime.
Links:
1) https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/false-accusations-and-abuse-claims.html