Joseph:
I have also argued the point about false accusations. If you have ever debated with the “advocates”, you have certainly found them passionate about their position. I have struggled with their focus on the prosecution of those accused, noting that they have publicized things and destroyed lives of innocent people, long before there was any form of process to ascertain responsibility or guilt. But this passion exacts a huge cost. It blinds to fact and truth, and it “justifies” any collateral damage that results from the process. I found the advocates need only a name to use as their banner, with zero regard for unproven accusations. When I state this, their passion turns into blind rage. “No one makes false accusations!” Tell that to Brett Kavanaugh.
When I say to take whatever measures are necessary to protect children, they retort that I must adopt their approach to pursue relentlessly the accused to destroy them. When I tell them that a specific incident, while a serious problem, was isolated, they pressure me to insist that the accused is a serial molester, and that my position suggests that I don’t care about kids. Yet, these “advocates” refused to participate in any of the prevention efforts launched by several organizations, as it did not jive with their agenda.
The current law invites false accusations. It comes in a climate that anyone who can produce a story will be rewarded, without a scintilla of evidence beyond their report. After all, who can find evidence from 30 years ago. It’s free money. I bet there are many who have resentments against their yeshivos (and I do not disbelieve such resentments). Now there is an avenue for retribution, where the burden of proof is essentially lifted. It risks becoming, as I labeled it in an earlier comment, a “circus of monetary awards”.
So the advocates had a point, which was really tiny, that the percentage of false accusations was rather small. I still feel that a burden of proof was necessary. And to buy into the utter stupidity of the @metoo mentality is a stoop to the intellect level of a tree stump. But with the ancient stuff rising, the invitation to fabricate is powerful, and potentially destructive. As much as the dishonesty is unacceptable, the fact that it will eventually cost the believability of true victims is a real disaster.
And you are spot on labeling this dinei nefashos.