Via Daily Wire:
Moral panics, or instances of mass hysteria, have occurred throughout history. Two of the most notorious are the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 90s. The panics almost exclusively involve women and children and fears for their safety, especially from sexual abuse.
We are in the midst of another such panic, but despite the similarities to past episodes, we are still unable to recognize it as such. The current panic has been playing out in the military and on college campuses for nearly a decade, but with the advent of the #MeToo movement, the mass hysteria is creeping into our regular legal system as well. The following are five of the biggest signs that we are experiencing another bout of mass hysteria, this time over sexual assault and harassment.
1. Due Process Goes Out The Window
Due process is the cornerstone of our legal system, but in times of mass hysteria, it becomes the enemy. In Salem, those accused of witchcraft were presumed guilty and, in many cases, denied counsel. The only evidence presented against them was an accusation.
This was similarly the case during the Satanic Panic several decades ago. The only evidence presented against the accused were allegations from children, who alternated between plausible claims of sexual abuse (which lacked even limited physical evidence) to fanciful claims of Satanic ritual killings. Children who attended the Little Rascals day care in Edenton, North Carolina, for example, made accusations that they were taken out to the ocean and thrown overboard for sharks. Children at the McMartin Preschool claimed to travel to outer space in a hot-air balloon. These allegations, of course, were ignored while the accusations of sexual abuse were pursued.