Roy Moore and #MeToo

Back in October, Election Central brought you the story of Roy Moore’s victory over “Big Luther” Strange in the contentious Republican primary runoff for a Senate seat in Alabama. Now, Roy Moore is back in the spotlight, this time on serious charges of sexual misconduct.

Moore, a former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, will face Democratic challenger     Doug Jones in a special election on December 12. The district where Moore is running is heavily Republican, and Alabama hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1990. However, in light of the recent scandal, Democrats may actually have a shot at flipping the seat.

So What Happened?

In the past two weeks, a total of nine women have come forward to say that several decades ago Roy Moore made unwanted sexual and/or romantic advances toward them. Some of the advances included forcible kissing and/or touching. Several of the women were 18 or younger when the advances occurred, and one of the accusers was only 14. Moore would have been in his 30s at the time.

Moore has denied the allegations, accusing the women of lying and committing forgery as part of a national conspiracy to remove him from politics. Republican senators, including Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell, have called for Moore to remove himself from the Senate race, or to step down if he wins. But the Alabama Republican Party stands behind Moore, pointing out that his name is already printed on the ballot and that early votes have already started coming in.

President Trump has been very quiet about the charges. He has recently stated that they are “troubling,” but doesn’t agree that Moore should be removed from the race, saying that the voters should be allowed to decide on who they want to represent them. This special election is very important to Republicans. If they lose, that means their majority in the Senate drops down to just one seat.

Congress Says #MeToo

Accusations of sexual harassment have dominated the news lately, from the Hollywood Hills to Capitol Hill. Now, Congress is responding with a bipartisan act that will hopefully change the climate in the governing halls of Washington D.C. by making it easier for women who work in Congress to report incidents of harassment and improving the way these claims are handled. It’s called the ME TOO Congress Act, named after the recent #MeToo social media campaign.

Among other things, the new act will: get rid of the rule that victims must go through 30 days of counseling and mediation before filing a complaint; create an online system for filing complaints; create an in-house office where victims can go for legal advice and assistance; and extend all of these protections to pages, interns, and fellows. Under the new act, if someone is found guilty of sexual harassment, that person will have to pay for all legal fees out of their own pocket, rather than using taxpayer money. Also, if a sexual harassment claim is settled, the information about the case, as well as how much it settled for, become public knowledge.

In light of recent widespread accusations of sexual harassment, both in Congress and in the private sector, sponsors of the ME TOO Act have said that it is already receiving a lot of support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It’s likely that the ME TOO Act will be voted on early in the new year.

What Do You Think?: In your opinion, should Roy Moore be required to resign from the Alabama Senate race at this time? Why or why not? Please remember to be respectful of, and sensitive to, other points of view when responding.