The Arc of Justice Bends for Bill Cosby

Christine Flowers on Jul 1, 2021

The fact that due process had been shattered and the Constitution shredded was considered necessary collateral damage so we would all be able to celebrate the “no means no, even when I don’t say it loud enough” mantra. It was the revenge of the Handmaids. It was a feeding frenzy.

And everyone thought it was over, and justice had been served.

But Cosby refused to admit his guilt, because it hadn’t been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Justice had been manipulated, massaged, coerced, and transformed into something ugly.

Over the past six years, I’ve written many articles for this paper, and others. The headlines were controversial, the content even more so. I can’t print some of the names I’ve been called, but I can assure you they rarely exceeded four letters. I even had a former editor from a former newspaper for which I wrote publish a cloying “apology” to her readers, many of whom had been triggered by my defense of Cosby. So nice to see the Fourth Estate grovel before those who can’t deal with controversy.

Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter. Words are meaningless. What matters is the law, truth, procedural fairness, and time. As Dr. King wrote, it might move slowly, that arc. But as long as it reaches toward justice, the wait is worth it.

Even, I think, for an 83-year-old man from Philadelphia.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.