ASuperior Court Judge in the States is facing suspension after he asked an alleged sexual assault victim if she tried closing her legs during the rape.
The Washington Post reports John Russo Jr., a family court judge in New Jersey, posed the damaging question back in 2016 to a woman seeking a restraining order against the father of her child. In court, the woman told the judge her ex-partner had sexually assaulted her, to which he responded: 'Do you know how to stop somebody from having intercourse with you?'
A transcript of the hearing details the woman's reply, in which she suggested that you could say no, try to run away, or try to physically harm the attacker.
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The judge interjected, saying: 'Run away, get away. Anything else?'
'I — that’s all I know,' replied the woman.
The judge then suggested, 'Block your body parts?' to which the plaintiff replied, 'Yeah'.
Judge Russo continued his quizzing, saying: 'Close your legs? Call the police? Did you do any of those things?'
The judge proceeded to deny the woman's request for a restraining order against her former partner, as a result of the way she answered his questions in their exchange.
Following a series of complaints that the judge may have violated the Code of Judicial Conduct numerous times over the years years, an advisory committee investigated, and this week released a 45-page recommendation about how to proceed. The report described the judge's questioning as 'unwarranted' and he now faces a three-month suspension without pay following his actions.
Judge Russo denied any implication of victim blaming, stating his line of questioning was necessary to 'demonstrate the element of force or coercion used during the assault,' and to 'aid the plaintiff in recounting a traumatic event.'
Despite this, Russo said he would not ask such questions to an alleged sexual assault victim again.
Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
