Nineteen Harvard Law professors have written a letter condemning “The Hunting Ground,” a film purporting to be a documentary about campus sexual assault. The film has been getting some Oscar buzz, and CNN is preparing to air the program next week.
In a press package for the film, CNN singled out a story in the film about a sexual assault accusation at Harvard. The press packet named the accused student, even though he was not identified in the film. The 19 professors want to be sure viewers are aware that the film is highly misleading.
The accusation involved former Harvard student Kamilah Willingham, who claimed in the film that she and a friend passed out after a night of drinking and were forcibly sexually assaulted by their male friend, who possibly drugged them. Willingham claims Harvard had an “extreme reluctance to believe her” and that even though the school suspended the accused student, it allowed him to return to campus.
The film makes it seem as if the accused student was almost immediately allowed back on campus. In reality, he was suspended for an entire year. The charges were dropped when he was allowed to return to campus. The film also states that the accused student was later indicted for sexual assault, making it seem as though Harvard allowed a dangerous man to return to campus.
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But that’s not what happened. The accused student, Brandon Winston, was not indicted on a separate accusation, but on the same accusation from Willingham and her friend. He was not indicted on the serious charges of sexual assault, nor was he indicted for any charges relating to Willingham. Willingham had proven to be an unreliable witness, having presented a condom she claimed to have been used by Winston during the rape of her friend. The condom actually belonged to a different male student, who had used it with Willingham.
As for the claim of drugging, no drugs were found in Willingham or her friend, except for the cocaine she had willingly used and distributed amongst her friends the night of the incident.
The grand jury did indict on lesser charges, but the jury trial found him not guilty for the remaining sex charges. He was found guilty of only a misdemeanor of a “nonsexual nature.”
Further hampering “The Hunting Ground’s” portrayal of the Winston case is the fact that even the Education Department, in its investigation into Harvard’s alleged mishandling of sexual assault accusations, failed to vindicate Willingham’s claims.
“We believe that Brandon Winston was subjected to a long, harmful ordeal for no good reason. Justice has been served in the end, but at enormous costs to this young man,” the professors wrote. “We denounce this film as prolonging his ordeal with its unfair and misleading portrayal of the facts of his case. Mr. Winston was finally vindicated by the Law School and by the judicial proceedings, and allowed to continue his career at the Law School and beyond. Propaganda should not be allowed to erase this just outcome.”
The 19 professors include feminist icon Nancy Gertner; outspoken critics of campus rape hysteria Elizabeth Bartholet, Janet Halley and Jeannie Suk; as well as President Obama’s former mentor Charles Ogletree.
In a separate letter, Winston’s lawyers also condemned the film (and CNN for airing it) for its false portrayal of their client.
“In airing this film, the network will treat its depiction of Mr. Winston’s case as a truthful rendering of a school disciplinary process and criminal trial involving the hot-button issue of campus sexual assault. It is not,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawyers note that Massachusetts grand juries tend to indict, but dismissed most of the charges against Winston, and all of the serious charges.
“CNN has allowed Ms. Willingham to label Mr. Winston as a ‘predator’ without any evidence to support this claim. It is disturbing to us that the filmmakers and CNN see Mr. Winston, a young black man accused of sexual assault, and refuse to believe he is anything but guilty [despite multiple investigations clearing him],” the lawyers wrote.
Winston’s lawyers, of the law offices of Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein, said a member of their legal team would be willing to debate the filmmakers or the “self-proclaimed victim.” The lawyers also say that CNN has “refused to allow a member of Mr. Winston’s trial team to appear on a panel discussing the film when it is premiered.”
“It appears that the network is less concerned with presenting an objective journalistic piece on an important issue, and more concerned with drumming up support for this shamefully unfair and inaccurate film,” the lawyers wrote.
Winston is not the only accused student portrayed falsely in the film. And the accusations aren’t the only factual inaccuracies in the film, it also relies heavily on debunked statistics. For more information on all the problems with the film, read this.
