It is exceedingly difficult to look into Harvey Weinstein’s eyes as the father of a 12 year old daughter, almost as hard as it must be for women, generally. Andrew Napolitano wants you to know that Weinstein’s mixed verdict is a “monumental victory for the defense.” Fair enough, as his opinion. For whatever else Napolitano is on FOX, he is something that I am not, a very experienced judge from New York state. Compared to what Weinstein faced in terms of possible criminal exposure, yes, it is a significant “win” for the defense.

And yet it is also a monumental win for women, generally.

Rape is a hard enough crime to prove, never mind years and years after the fact. Hear me, we want it to be hard to get convictions in any criminal case. Frustrating as it is, the one and only thing that is worse is when it is easy to get convictions. Having said that, it is especially – perhaps unfairly – hard to get rape convictions in any case without significant physical wounds, and near impossible years after the fact. Getting criminal charges hung on Weinstein on any of these charges is a significant testament to the work of the investigators, the attorneys and – mostly, the victims who testified against him.

Does Weinstein deserve far worse punishment? Of course he does. But let’s set that part aside for a moment. A person as powerful as Weinstein must be furious right now, and scared. He has no power over being remanded to the court for sentencing. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t have the power to dictate what happens from this point forward. He will face time behind bars. But even more important than Weinstein’s fate, let’s think of the victory to women going forward.

As an attorney, I can tell you that we spend a great deal of time, during and after school, learning about the criminal justice system’s impact on society. Beyond punishing crimes committed, the criminal justice system is also meant to deter future crime. That should be the focus going forward from Weinstein, and the Me, Too movement. In study after study, it has been proven that longer jail sentences, harsher punishments, they don’t deter crime. What deters crime are the odds of getting caught at all, and being punished at all.

Weinstein deserves worse. But there is a real victory in the message that he was “caught” and is getting punished, no matter how insufficiently.

Men must now confront the fact that everything is different. Criminal charges are expected now for manipulating your position of power all to abuse women for your lust and dominance. It will significantly deter predatory men in the future, men who believe that they are powerful enough to withstand allegations from women that are “hard to prove.” That is a significant victory for women, and for the victims who chose to tell their story.

And though we all, of course, know that it is still difficult and dangerous to be around predatory men, it less so today than even just two years ago, or two days ago. That is not nothing, and one can feel it. Whether as a woman, or the dad of a proto-woman, it is a day to be cheered.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom