By Marian Bradley, Kate Olp, and Sheena Rice
Like so many of you, we were angry this week. We were angry at Judge G. Todd Baugh for his inappropriate comments about a 14-year-old rape victim, and we were angry at a legal system that allowed a rapist to walk away with just 30 days in jail. But as this week has passed, we have come to realize that our anger is ultimately directed at more than one situation or individual: it is directed at the whole of a culture that could allow something like this to happen.
For us, this week started off with a few “we need to do something” messages between friends. What happened next surpassed our wildest dreams: Hundreds of Billings citizens joined us at a rally to support abuse victims, while thousands more wrote letters, signed petitions and spoke out. To the entire community of Billings, and those from around the world that shared our message, we, the organizers of the “Stand with the Victim, Justice for Cherice Rally” want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
What we saw at that rally is the side of Billings that we know and love; it is the community that we want the rest of the world to see. Our entire community was represented, with men, women, children, young adults, seniors, people of multiple races and political ideologies in attendance, all unified with one message: Billings supports rape victims and will not stand for victim blaming.
With Billings still in the spotlight, this is what we want the world to see — a unified community that stands strong and speaks out on behalf of its most vulnerable members. We want Billings to be a catalyst in changing our dialogue about rape, and how we talk about rape within the justice system.
To that end, we will continue to organize in Billings to support victims of rape and abuse, and to influence the change needed within our justice system. We will be pulling the petition signatures and letters of complaint together in a formal package to present to the Judicial Standards Commission asking for a resignation from Judge Baugh, and also for a legal review of rape sentencing in Montana. More importantly however, we are demanding ongoing education within all legal avenues (prosecution, defense, and judicial) about the harmful effects of victim blaming language.
Billings has shown the world that it is a community that stands up for victims. Let’s make sure we work hard to ensure that, in the future, that is what we make the national news for. In doing so, we will also ensure that what happened to Cherice Moralez and her family does not happen to another victim ever again.
If you would like to learn more about how you can stay involved in the ongoing work on changing how we talk about rape in Billings and beyond, please find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/justice4cherice