FRIDAY: Protest Outside Yellowstone Area Bar Award Ceremony for Child Rape Condoning Judge
Media Advisory for May 29, 2015
Contact: Andrea L. Alford, 703-477-1075, andrea@fitzgibbonmedia.com or Molly Haigh, 907-750-1999, molly@fitzgibbonmedia.com
FRIDAY: Protest Outside Yellowstone Area Bar Award Ceremony for Child Rape Condoning Judge
**UPDATE: UltraViolet responds to Yellowstone Bar Association’s formal statement on the award **
MONTANA — On Friday, May 29th national anti-sexism group UltraViolet, rape survivors, activists, and state legislators will take to the streets of Billings, Montana to demand that the Yellowstone Bar Association cancel a lifetime achievement award slated to be given to a judge who let off a child rapist and blamed the victim for the assault.
Late last night, the Yellowstone Bar formally issued a statement defending their decision to endorse a judge who condones the rape of girls.
“What is happening in Billings is rape culture at it’s worst,” responded Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet. “The Yellowstone Bar Association is wildly out of line in awarding a lifetime achievement award to a man who condones the rape of girls. This is no small matter— a child lost her life while Judge G. Todd Baugh both let off her rapist and blamed the child for the assault against her.”
WHAT: Protest outside Yellowstone Bar Association Awards Ceremony condoning child rape. The group is awarding a lifetime achievement award to a judge who recently let off a child rapist and blamed the assault on the victim– 14 year old Cherice Moralez– who later committed suicide.
WHO: 20 rape survivors, anti-rape activists, UltraViolet members, and Montana state legislators. Event speakers: Marian Bradley, mother of a childhood sexual assault survivor and Montana NOW State President, sexual assault survivors, and community members.
WHEN: May 29th, 5pm-6:30pm MDT; The award ceremony starts at 6:30.
WHERE: Yellowstone Art Museum, 401 North 27th Street Billings, MT 59101
VISUALS: Small protest outside award ceremony, protesters with signs reading “Don’t reward rape culture” and “No Honor for Baugh.”
Judge G. Todd Baugh was publicly censured and suspended by the Montana Supreme Court after he blamed 14-year-old Cherice Moralez for her own rape.
Friday’s event is part of an ongoing campaign to hold Baugh accountable for his actions condoning child rape. Through Friday, a giant truck billboard is travelling around Billings slamming the Yellowstone Bar and their decision to move forward with the award ceremony.
See photos of the truck in action: http://bit.ly/1LMNt8Z
Over 40,000 UltraViolet members have called on the Yellowstone Bar Association to reverse their decision and more than 15,500 parents have signed on to a letter slamming the association for their plans to condone child rape by awarding this disgraced judge with an award.
See the petition signed by more than 40K people: http://bit.ly/1EAinfq
See the parent letter: http://bit.ly/1FcPmXX
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UltraViolet is an online community of over 600,000 women and men who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media. Find out more at WeAreUltraViolet.org