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It seems to me (and I don't have all the details) that, potential criminal activity aside, we're attempting to judge the man's 1971 behavior by 1993 standards.
First the disclaimer: Nothing in this column is intended to imply that the author takes sexual harassment lightly, that it is anything less than significant, or that it doesn't exist.
BUT-
Maybe I should start by exhuming the remains of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. It seems to me that there was a plausible charge of sexual harassment, followed by inconclusive testimony. Certainly there was enough conflicting evidence (considering, for example, that Anita Hill followed Judge Thomas for several years) to cast a reasonable doubt had this been a criminal trial.
Those who voted on Judge Thomas's confirmation determined that there was no clear indication that the judge was guilty of sexual harassment. Therefore, they confirmed him.
And a cry went up from the women's rights groups. Their claim was that the senators had "trivialized" sexual harassment.
Did I miss something? Which senator said, "Yes, we know he did it, but that's not enough to keep him out of the Supreme Court"? That's like saying that a jury trivialized murder because they found the defendant not guilty. Or that a traffic cop trivialized speeding because he didn't catch you.
(Interesting how partisans judge guilt or innocence by the nature of the crime, not by the evidence. It happened on both sides. But that's fodder for another discussion.)
So back to Packwood.
The first allegations that became public seemed to indicate that the longtime senator had, more that twenty years ago, made unwanted advances toward women who worked for him. I think we all agree that that's not appropriate behavior. But remember that it occurred long before any of us had even heard the phrase "sexual harassment."
Most of us treat people differently from the way we would have many years ago. And it's not only because of our own personal growth, but also because of the changing standards of society. Would you castigate my parents for letting me ride, without a seatbelt, in the back seat of our '63 Chevy thirty years ago? Now we think back in horror to such carelessness. Have we decided that Ptolemy was stupid because he believed the earth was the center of the solar system? We learn and we progress.
Let's continue our vigilance on behalf of what's right. And let's punish those who violate our laws. But let's teach our progeny to judge us by the standards of our generation. If we don't, who knows how we'll be remembered.
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