Professor Elizabeth Schneider Quoted in New York Times story on Bill Cosby Trial

06/08/2017

Professor Elizabeth Schneider was quoted in the June 8 New York Times article, “In Cosby Trial, Treatment of Women by Powerful Men Has Its Day in Court.”

The article addresses the "familiar and discomforting spectacle" of a woman who alleges sexual assault also being put on trial.

Questions pertaining to why Cosby accuser Andrea Constand continued to phone Cosby are both standard defense tactics and common behavior for women in such cases, Schneider said.

“This is not a surprise to anyone who knows about the complicated reactions women have,” Schneider said. “He’s everyone’s father. Particularly if you were given some medication to knock you out, you have lots of questions afterwards. A part of her didn’t want to believe it really happened. A part of her believed this was a nice older man who was helping her, and she didn’t want to shut the door.”

Professor Schneider is the Director of the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program, which she has led for over 20 years. She is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of federal civil litigation, procedure, gender, law and domestic violence and is a frequent commentator for print and broadcast media. She is the author of the award-winning book, Battered Women and Feminist Lawmaking (Yale University Press, 2000) and co-author of several other books in this area. She has also written numerous articles and book chapters on civil rights, civil procedure, women's rights, and domestic violence.

Read the article.