June 15, 2022
What You May Have Missed in May
Depp v. Heard:
- Defamation law dominated the news with coverage of the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard case. Our Legal Director, Jennifer Becker, provided expert commentary about the potential chilling effect the trial coverage, and verdict, could have on survivors of domestic violence who are deciding whether or not to publicly disclose their abuse.
Her quotes were included in coverage in the Huffington Post, USA Today, NBC News and the NY Post.
Defamation Guide:
- We created our Defamation Guide to provide survivors who are speaking out about their abuse with a basic understanding of defamation law and a guide to the defamation statutes in every state. All survivors deserve to decide whether and how they share their experiences and should not be further abused for doing so.
Law of Rape and Sexual Assault:
- The American Law Institute (ALI) adopted a new definition of consent in its updated Model Penal Code (MPC) that, if states choose to adopt it, will take the law of rape and sexual assault backward.
Legal Momentum’s Senior VP and Director of NJEP, Lynn Hecht Schafran, wrote an LM in Action providing a background on the MPC, an explanation of the harm caused by the new consent definition, and what Legal Momentum is doing to stop the definition from ever being enacted in state law.
May was Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAIP) Heritage Month
- We recognized AANHPI Equal Pay Day on May 3rd, the day into the 2022 calendar year that AANHPI women needed to work on average in order to make the same amount of money as white, non-Hispanic men did in the previous year.
If you like what you see, don't hesitate: Share now and help Legal Momentum to continue helping women's and girls' rights!
