By now, the tale of Cooley v. Foreman, better known to America as “the Afroman defamation case,” or even just “the Afroman case,” has been repeatedly rehashed in the national news media. In general, the theme of this coverage has been bemusement: Afroman’s rap songs about the situation, the absurd answers given by the plaintiffs under cross-examination, and so forth. Yet overlooked in all the merrymaking is the grave violation of Joseph Foreman’s, also known as “Afroman’s”, fundamental civil rights under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Photo by AP.

The arrest of Jeffrey Epstein and the revelations that emerged from his trial have led to an obvious need for reform in key areas of the legal system. These changes would benefit victims and survivors of sexual abuse, who have historically been prevented from filing claims due to legal procedures such as the statute of limitations or varying child abuse laws in the states. One of Epstein’s most outspoken survivors, Virginia Giuffre, has specifically advocated for these changes that have previously prevented survivors from pursuing claims. Giuffre has significantly impacted the legal system by holding powerful men responsible for their actions and advocating for legal reform. By addressing these barriers, survivors are better positioned to hold their abusers accountable and encourage others to do the same.

Illustration by Christine Cornell.

Imagine a neighbor’s Ring security camera picks up a figure walking to a front door at 11:47 p.m. Police identify the figure as their suspect, and the prosecutor plans to play the clip for the jury. There is just one problem: that footage never sat on a hard drive. Instead, it streamed through a home Wi-Fi router to Amazon’s cloud servers, where it lived until the homeowner downloaded it to their phone, forwarded it to a detective, and the detective saved it to a department laptop before turning it over to the prosecution. At each step, someone handled the evidence. Nobody documented any of it. That chain of events illustrates the growing authentication problem with Ring doorbell footage, and courts are beginning to notice.

Photo by Tim Büning on Unsplash‍.