Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas - 17 Years Later

Do you remember the Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas heated debate of the early 90's?

Professor Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991 and after much discussion, platforming and mudslinging, he was confirmed by the Senate with a 52-48 vote (the closest margin for more than a century) as the 106th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Since 1991, much has happened.

Anita Hill was credited with bringing into awareness the real issues of sexual harassment faced by women in the workplace. She is also said to have driven what is known as the "Year of the Woman" in 1992, when a record number of women were elected to the U.S. Senate. Seeing Professor Hill questioned on highly personal matters by a largely unsympathetic, 100% male audience, is said to have raised alarms about the dominance of men in the Senate. For more on the "Year of the Woman" read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_Woman.

Professor Hill faced many attacks since her 1991 testimony. For example, she was vilified by David Brock, in his novel The Real Anita Hill; however, Brock later confessed that the book was all lies and that he was acting as a "Conservative Hit Man" in a bid to protect Clarence Thomas and also threaten another witness, Kaye Savage, into backing down. Brock apologized to Professor Hill. In another incident, Anita Hill was asked to leave her professorship at the University of Oklahoma College of Law by some of her most vocal critics, or else - they threatened - the law school would be abolished.

Professor Hill currently teaches social policy, law, and women's studies at the prestigious Brandeis University at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. In 2002, approximately 10 years after the Clarence Thomas debate, Hill shared her reflections on the controversy. Please see http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/april3/anitahill-43.html for more details. For Anita's profile, please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Hill.

Clarence Thomas continues to serve as a Supreme Court Justice and has repeatedly denied charges of sexual harassment, even though Professor Hill was not the only woman in his past to speak out about his allegedly inappropriate behavior. Mr. Thomas considers himself to be a conservative with 'libertarian leanings'. For his general profile and more on his judicial philosophy, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas.

Results are in...Anucha Sanders' Success

New York Post, October 3, 2007:

In a stunning close to a sensational trial, jurors knocked Knicks coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden for sexually harassing and discriminating against a fired team executive - awarding her a whopping $11.6 million in punitive damages.

"She shouldn't have been fired," juror Sally Anne Foster said following the verdict. Asked if the jury meant to send a message, Foster said, "Obviously, we did."

The normally composed Sanders wept as Manhattan federal Judge Gerard Lynch took the verdict, dabbing her eyes with a tissue in her most emotional moment of the three-week trial. Former vice president of marketing for the Knicks, Sanders accused Thomas of spewing curses at her for a year, calling her "bitch" and "ho," and then suddenly changing tactics to profess his love and make sexual advances.

Thomas barely flinched as the jury foreman answered, "Yes," the coach did intentionally discriminate against Sanders based on her sex. But jurors took him off the hook on damages. "What I did here, I did for every working woman in America," Sanders, 44, said outside of court. "That includes everyone who gets up and goes to work in the morning. Everyone who aspires to work in the corporate environment. I want to thank the jury for seeing through to the truth," Sanders said before joining hands with her family and lawyers in a prayer circle.


For more details see: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032007/news/regionalnews/11m_kick_in_harass.htm