Opening arguments begin on Monday in United States v. Maxwell, the case brought against Jeffrey Epstein’s tool, Ghislaine Maxwell. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-lets-ghislaine-maxwell-call-false-memories-expert-testify-trial-2021-11-22/. The court ruled it will allow the wealthy “socialite” to call expert witness and friend to monsters, Professor Elizabeth Loftus, to testify about false memory syndrome. Loftus, of memory is malleable, victims of sex crimes make this shit up or embellish, everyone deserves a defense and don’t you dare forget about the presumption of innocence, fame. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/05/how-elizabeth-loftus-changed-the-meaning-of-memory
I guess if one is capable of overcoming shame and fear and comes forward about sexual victimization, the trauma of the victimization will render one incapable of any reliable memory. Thus the circle is complete and victimizer prevails every time. Dare to come forward? Attorneys for the defense will make sure you are further traumatized and disenfranchised.
Here’s a little overview of the problems with “false memory syndrome”: https://timesupfoundation.org/the-danger-behind-the-false-memory-myth-2/. People I otherwise respect have even tossed this one back at me when I raise the issue of people victimized as kids in Oakland County during the heyday of the late 1970s and early 1980s (you know, when the Law and Order prosecutorial team of Brooks Patterson and Richard Thompson were shaking down alleged welfare cheats and turning a blind eye to child predators). I view it as a permanent black mark once someone defaults to this argument as an almost automatic response.
Loftus testified on behalf of Harvey Weinstein and Jerry Sandusky. Let’s hope the jury in the Maxwell case can see past this desperate defense and return a similar verdict.