Judge: Woman's rape case against Halliburton can go to trial

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

HOUSTON - A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co. subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR firefighters.

Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't report the assault.

Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.

Washington-based attorney Stephanie Morris said her client is pleased that she will have the opportunity to bring attention to the case.

"We are extremely excited we can now go forward and present the case in the public arena and make the public aware of what been going on overseas in Iraq. Halliburton has ratified gross sexual conduct by their failure to act," Morris said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080510/ap_on_re_us/iraq_contractor_assault

[Arctic Dave]

1. I hope she takes them for everything they got.

[JerseygirlCT]

25. Oh me too. And brings all sorts of hidden nasties to light at the same time! nt

[freefall]

2. She is so brave to be willing to go through the harassment she

will undoubtedly get from most of the M$M and much of the public by taking this case to trial. I applaud her courage.

Peace,

freefall

[1776Forever]

3. Hope they televised this! Maybe Court TV will - These criminals need to be flagged in public!

:argh:

[flor de jasmim]

4. perhaps you mean flogged?

[1776Forever]

7. Yes - didn't catch that - thks,

:hi:

[rocktivity]

5. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

This endless Dem primary has me WAY behind on my hating on the Bush monarchy!

:woohoo:
rocknation

[awoke_in_2003]

6. I am sure our purely objective

media will be tripping over themselves to assinate her character. It sure would be nice if once, just once, something like this got good coverage and loosen just one of the bricks in the wall- just one loose brick can bring the whole thing down.

[Hansel]

13. Not if the "Flaring Nostrils of Justice" gets there first

We should all email Nancy Grace and tell her to get right on that.

[Dreamer Tatum]

21. Objective...just like this thread...gotcha

Due process is only for our favorite people, after all.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. Sorry but

amongst my favorite people in this world are not global corporations that are granted immunity on anything they do, as long as they do it outside the US. We are talking rape, and they tried very hard to cover it up. But, in your opinion i guess, rape is okay, as long as the stockholders make a profit. And as a brother of a rape victim, (with the possibility of being tombstoned for what I am about to say)- FUCK YOU

[Dreamer Tatum]

29. You got all that from my post?

Really?

I was unaware that Halliburton allegedly raped a woman...I thought employees of Halliburton were so alleged.

I also thought that the scope of the trial would be to ascertain the guilt or non-guilt of the
people accused of rape. I didn't know Halliburton's global hegemony was also on trial.

And I certainly didn't know that rape was among the variables that lead to stock performance.

Sorry about your sibling. My post was about due process, however, which is a good thing.

[awoke_in_2003]

32. No,

but Halliburton and its employees have been granted immunity from investigation from US and Iraqui officials. I am a fan of due process, also, but Halliburton has been impeding due process. They want to bury this story so as not to affect their stock performance.

[Dreamer Tatum]

33. I see your point

I don't think a rape conviction would affect the stock much, but anyone who covered anything like that up needs to be strung up.

[awoke_in_2003]

36. Well, if it ever becomes common knowledge

that Halliburton frequently covers up misdoings by their employees in Iraq, Congress may start looking into it (I know, Congress doing anything about anything is kind of out there :))

[The Doctor.]

8. Jail for the assholes, $100 million from Halliburton, and criminal penalties up the chain

for everyone who stifled the case.

[femrap]

9. K and R

It's about time someone used the common sense that Goddess gave them. This woman deserves JUSTICE...and Halliburton will get what it deserves as well.

Thanks for the good news and starting the weekend off with a bit of belief in our system of law.

[Rage for Order]

10. While it's sad that she was raped

Tell me again, why should I have any sympathy for this mercenary?

[XOEnterprises]

16. Because she was raped.

Because it's wrong to do that to anyone, under any circumstance. Just because someone has a particular job doesn't mean they're open to being attacked and violated, man or woman.

[Rage for Order]

17. Sorry, but...

If you put yourself in a position to profit from Halliburton's war crimes in Iraq then you don't get any sympathy from me. She gets as much sympathy from me as the 4 mercenaries in Fallujah did in 2003 - zero.

[XOEnterprises]

24. There are a lot

of things I personally don't agree with, and a lot of people who do stupid things. That doesn't disqualify them from being human.

I don't agree with Halliburton's profiteering or any other number of crimes that have happened because of this war. But neither you nor I know why this woman was working for them, nor should it matter. She was attacked, and she wants to see justice. It doesn't matter who she was working for, or under what circumstances she was attacked. You can disagree with her career, but I don't see why her right to be safe in her own body depends on what her job is.

To be so brave in the face of a huge corporation that has the obvious support of the government is commendable, especially because of something that painful and damaging.

Edit: silly typo.

[ngant17]

35. anyone who tries to sue Halliburton

would probably be blacklisted from working in the mercenary business again.

I definitely support the woman's case against Halliburton and against the employees who were involved in the sexual attack on her. A few million dollars of compensation wouldn't do a whole lot of damage for this company, but it might open up other cases for people who have not been willing to sue just yet. A good trend that might put this company in the hot seat for a long time.

[Ilsa]

18. She's a victim of poverty like anyone else who signed up

because they needed the money. The rapists did what they did because they believed they could get away with it. They need to learn otherwise.

[Rage for Order]

20. So it's ok to kill for money if you're poor? n/t

[Ilsa]

22. So, it's okay for a gang of rapists to go unprosecuted? I don't want

them in my neighborhood. I hope they can be discovered.

[Rage for Order]

23. Of course not

But to hold this mercenary woman up like she's some kind of courageous hero is ridiculous. She's enabling the war crimes of Halliburton and the Bush regime.

[bperci108]

27. "Mercenary"?

Is every employee of Halliburton a hired killer in your estimation?


As far as I know (and I certainly could be mistaken) she was a clerical employee of some kind.

Holy shit...:eyes:

[Rage for Order]

28. Oh, so she didn't actually pull the trigger

Instead, she just filled out the purchase orders to make sure the other mercenaries had the bullets they needed to pull the trigger. Sorry, you willingly sign up with Halliburton, Blackwater, et al for duty in Iraq, knowing what they do there, and yes, you are a mercenary.

[bperci108]

30. Okay, I get it.

So you're saying it's kind of a "You're either for us or against us" proposition.


Thanks for clearing that up.


(Edit: Grammar)

[Rage for Order]

31. Actually, you'd need to ask the Iraqi people that question

Ask them whether they appreciate this woman's, and Halliburton's, efforts to "help" them.

[montanacowboy]

11. Halliburton/IKBR

will claim "Executive Privilege"

or.. maybe state's secrets

[defendandprotect]

12. I heard some of her testimony and she has quite some courage . . .

against strong intimidation by Halliburton and the courts ---

She's had a number of surgeries -- some to repair damage to her breasts ---
and physically and emotionally this gang rape and the attempt to cover it up
are signs that there is something very wrong with our military and what we
teach soldiers.

As Sy Hersh has said, this is the most brutal and violent army we have every raised---
and I'd add that we have for too long trained military males to disrespect and hate women.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Barrett.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

15. K & f'n R!!

Justice must come.

[haroldmongoose]

19. I hope she wins

Halliburton is capable of anything. Look at what they have done in Iraq.

[Elspeth]

34. All this for ONE rape case, and we have heard about so many by both military and contractors

There must be justice for the rest.