Following up on McClinton Case 

Since publishing our statement in response to media requests for comment about the case of Shawn McClinton, who was arrested August 5 and charged with aggravated rape, armed kidnapping with sexual assault, strangulation, and assault by means of a dangerous weapon, we have heard from many people in BARCC’s community with questions and concerns about what we said. 

For anyone who does not know about this situation: up until three weeks before the attack, McClinton had been in jail for over two years awaiting trial on similar charges because he had been unable to (and prosecutors knew he would not be able to) make bail. He was released from jail after the Massachusetts Bail Fund posted his $15,000 bail and then is reported to have committed this crime. Our public statement criticized the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office for not following the procedures available (primarily a dangerousness hearing) to hold McClinton without bail. But we were much more forceful in our criticism of the bail fund for having put the public at risk. 

We are publishing this blog post to be clear that the vision of a future without oppression of all kinds is something that BARCC shares with the Massachusetts Bail Fund, and that the work of the bail fund in Massachusetts is critical to ensuring that race and poverty are not criminalized. 

In hindsight, BARCC regrets that our original statement placed undue responsibility on the Massachusetts Bail Fund. The bail fund was not responsible for McClinton’s actions. McClinton was. And secondary responsibility lies with a series of systemic failures in our criminal legal system that are all too common. And, we are also keenly aware of all the lost opportunities for prevention and rehabilitation that could have been afforded to McClinton when he served a prior sentence for rape. 

Our hearts go out to the survivors who were victimized by McClinton. We know they are facing a long journey of healing in their lives, and we hope they are getting the support they need. 

Like other rape crisis centers around the country, with whom we have been in touch, BARCC is grappling with the ways in which it interacts and relates with the criminal legal system on behalf of survivors. With very limited options, survivors may report the crime to police to seek accountability for the harm done to them, and rape crisis centers assist them with this process. We know that engaging with the criminal legal system can offer some survivors a sense of justice and safety, and we want that for them. When the system works to hold an offender accountable and treats a survivor with respect through the process, it can be an important step on a survivor’s journey to healing. 

All that said, the criminal legal system perpetuates systemic racism and causes harm for many communities and people, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We know that when survivors interact with these systems, survivors of all races, and especially BIPOC survivors, are frequently not respected or believed, and their needs and expectations are often not met. 

Finally, we know that incarceration itself creates heightened risk of sexual violence, and it does not provide rehabilitation services to people who have perpetrated it. Consequently, when we talk about issues of “public safety” and what public safety means, we are engaging in a conversation that is fraught, complex, and falsely equates efforts at reforming a racist criminal legal system with increased risk to survivors.

Ending sexual violence through healing and social change is BARCC’s purpose and mission. We are here for survivors and to help them through a maze of difficult choices. As we do this work, we will continue to advocate for sexual violence prevention in homes, schools, workplaces, prisons, and all public spaces. We will also continue to advocate for the radical change urgently needed within the systems that survivors and their loved ones navigate post-assault.