The Persky Recall: Below The Buried Lede

At the New York Times, Jose Del Real did a story about the other side of Stanford lawprof Michele Dauber’s personal jihad, the Persky Recall movement. Kind of. Not really, actually, and that’s the reason for this post.

The headline makes a promise:

Activists Try to Recall Judge in Stanford Sex Attack Case. Some Say They’ve Gone Too Far.

Perhaps the problem is that nobody told Del Real that the attacks on Judge Aaron Persky have been going on since Day 2, as he writes as if there is something new happening here. It’s unclear whether, “nearly two years later,” the new issue is the recall or the opposition to the recall. I suspect the latter.

But now, nearly two years later, the case has provoked another wave of outrage, this time from a surprising corner. A grass-roots effort to remove the judge for lenient sentencing has exposed sharp fissures within activist circles, with victims’ rights advocates who are leading the charge pitted against others who worry the effort could cut against efforts to decrease high imprisonment rates in the United States.

Except none of this is accurate. Sure, if you missed the TV show the first time and only saw it on summer reruns, it’s new to you, but you realize it’s summer reruns, not a first run broadcast. But Del Real was, by his own writing, unaware of the past, that there is near universal condemnation by lawyers, judges and legal academics of Dauber’s War. Fair enough. It wasn’t on his radar, which is understandable given that there are so many newsworthy issues floating about that no one can be faulted for not following everything.

But here he is, writing an article for the New York Times, so one might expect him to do a little bit of digging and get some background on the subject of his article. How did he do?

The first five paragraphs say . . . absolutely nothing about anyone challenging Dauber. They are a tepid and shallow recap of vehement and shallow grievances. Not until the sixth paragraph, a one-liner, does Del Real touch on the subject of his article.

But not all women’s rights advocates think it’s the right decision.

Not only is this buried, and buried deep, but then he added in a peculiar spin: women’s rights advocates? So what? Are the consequences of an outrageously wrong war against a judge for being too lenient limited to women’s rights? And “advocates”? Apparently, Del Real has a bias of which he’s flagrantly unaware.

The article then tells a story.

Judge LaDoris Cordell, a retired Superior Court judge and an outspoken advocate of women, has become one of the recall effort’s most vocal critics. Ms. Cordell wears her liberal stripes proudly, but she said she is worried the recall effort could influence judges who might otherwise show leniency in criminal sentencing, undermining a longtime goal to decrease the prison population. The impulse toward harsher sentencing, she said, is reminiscent of the measures that have fed large increases of prison populations, like California’s three-strikes law, which imposed an automatic life sentence for a third felony conviction.

Ms. Cordell’s views have often been met with personal attacks. She was standing in line at a Kinkos in Palo Alto in December, she recalled, when a woman approached her to tell her she had been “brainwashed by the white male establishment.”

It’s not that it isn’t a good story, and includes the preferred virtue that Judge Cordell is an “outspoken advocate of women,” which is a necessary credential in the head of a warrior to be allowed to opine. But it fails to address the fact that it’s not just one poor judge supporting another poor judge.

So does Del Real then, already deep into his article, dig deeper, harder, to fulfill the promise his headline makes? The next nine paragraphs are dedicated to the views of Dauber about how Persky is the personification of white male privileged rape apologists.

Eventually, Del Real gets to some opposing views, including Erwin Chemerinsky. And finally to Meaghan Ybos.

Other criminal justice reform advocates disagree with criticism over leniency altogether. The Brock Turner case should be celebrated as a success because “it was prosecuted, and a conviction was obtained,” said Meaghan Ybos, the founder of People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws in Memphis. Ms. Ybos saw the failures in rape law enforcement firsthand when she was attacked as a teenager. Her rape kit sat untested for nine years.

“There should be outrage over judges who don’t show mercy, not the ones that do,” she said.

This comes 26 paragraphs into the article about how “some say they’ve gone too far.” As Meaghan noted on twitter, at least an article appeared in the Times that questioned Dauber at all. All things considered, she’s right. It was in there, no matter how deeply Del Real buried the lede. That the Times would acknowledge any challenge to a feminist “burn the witch” campaign is shocking in itself. Maybe Del Real did the best he could to get it past his editor at all.

27 thoughts on “The Persky Recall: Below The Buried Lede

  1. Jim Tyre

    Ms. Cordell’s views have often been met with personal attacks. She was standing in line at a Kinkos in Palo Alto in December, she recalled, when a woman approached her to tell her she had been “brainwashed by the white male establishment.”

    Granting we have no context except for what the piece says. Still, if that’s a personal attack, we all may need to refrain from saying anything at all. (Except in your comments, of course.)

    1. SHG Post author

      Are you kidding? In Palo Alto, that’s literally waiting-on-line rape. Stop diminishing Judge (not Ms. Jose) Cordell’s lived experience.

      1. cthulhu

        Outside the Noo Yawk bubble, people wait in line, not on line, unless they’re trying to contact near-nonexistent support resources using someone’s outsourced chat widget. But I’m sure that the lived experience is the same either way.

            1. Richard Kopf

              Jim,

              Because the state capitol building is quite tall and can be seen far away on the otherwise lonely I-80, we secretly call it the Penis of the Plains. Do not reveal this to anyone else.

              All the best.

              RGK

            1. Rojas

              That one looks pretty close. But, as I recall from that one semester of geography bounded by twelve semesters of Texas history, Fort Worth is at least nine times larger than Dallas.

            2. LocoYokel

              @ Rojas

              I can’t argue that statement. I can only plead that this is the best map I could find online.

  2. Matthew S Wideman

    These are the articles that show how poorly journalism has gotten at the NYT. It has about as much substance as a Diet Coke.

    1. SHG Post author

      It would be trite, and inaccurate, to call this fake news. But what it is not is accurate reporting. Is it influenced by bias?

  3. B. McLeod

    Some say thought,
    It’s but reflection,
    That isn’t worth two dimes,
    Some say thought,
    Is imperfection,
    Sans reason and sans rhymes,
    Some say thought,
    Sows seeds of trouble,
    Worse than a thousand crimes,
    I say thought,
    It isn’t something,
    That’s in the New York Times.

  4. Rojas

    Sorry Scott, on account that no ones talking sense here anymore we figured we could adopt you. Kind of like the way adopted son Jerry Jeff inspired generations to learn the Texas anthem, we’re hoping the kids pick up on some of these simple justice ideas and learn to stand for an ovation once again when they are presented.

      1. LocoYokel

        Give a man BBQ, teach a man to BBQ.

        1/3 c mortons coarse kosher salt
        1/2 c dark brown sugar
        1/2 c peppercorn ground
        3 TBLS garlic powder (adjust to taste)
        3 TBLS onion powder (adjust to taste)
        2 TBLS Hungarian paprika (adjust to taste)
        1 tsp cayenne (adjust to taste)
        2 racks ribs

        peel membrane from underside of ribs using sharp knife and pliers
        apply rub generously let sit an hour or 2

        if using wood smoker set to 220 deg. using hickory, oak, or apple wood. Put ribs in and smoke approx. 3 hrs until bones are just starting to loosen in meat.

        if using electric smoker do not pre-heat, put wood in burning pan and turn on to temp when putting ribs in. Smoke as above

        remove from smoker and let rest 10min or so.
        serve with sauce of choice.

          1. LocoYokel

            We’ll still get you your blacks fix (although I might substitute in some from my smoker using the above guide). But now you can make them any time you want.

            Apple really is the best wood for pork, followed by hickory.

            1. SHG Post author

              Just because I’ve got a Deere doesn’t mean I do my own smoking. Stop pigeonholing me. I’m a NY lawyer. When we smoke, it means something entirely different. Enough with the smoker.

            2. Patrick Maupin

              “Stop pigeonholing me. I’m a NY lawyer.”

              LocoYokel was trying to help you out of that particular pigeonhole, but sure, it makes sense you wouldn’t want your pinstripe to smell like wood smoke. Wouldn’t want the judge to think you were homeless or anything; smelling like fresh-cut grass from the Deere gives off a much better Rand Paul-style “I’m a man of the people and cut my own lawn” vibe.

            3. SHG Post author

              I am a man of the people. I watch closely as my gardeners mow my lawn and offer only the most constructive of criticism.

          2. LocoYokel

            Just so you know (and to make you jealous) I put a brisket in to start corning this week. In about a month I’m gonna have about 12 – 15 lbs of some really good homemade pastrami. Comparable to Katz, recipe is based on theirs.

            1. LocoYokel

              Hey, I don’t live in the city where I can just drive down to the deli and get pastrami. I have to make it if I want the good stuff.

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