Experienced prosecutor should have known better than to call an acquitted person a rapist, filing says
A former Yale University student who defeated claims of rape is continuing his legal battle to seek justice.
Saifullah Khan is suing fifteen organizations including the National Women’s Law Center, the Fierberg National Law Group, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute, along with attorney Jennifer Becker, for “defamation, false light, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and abuse of process action.”
Khan (pictured) is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. It is pending and the accused groups have requested extensions to file responses, according to a College Fix review of court documents on Aug. 1.
The lawsuit follows an amicus brief the organizations filed with the Connecticut Supreme Court surrounding whether Khan could sue his accuser for damages.
The initial brief called Khan a “rapist,” and said he had committed rape – however, he already had been cleared by a jury of the charges. Despite this, Yale expelled Khan.
“Defendants, organizations with assets exceeding $200,000,000 and an experienced attorney, repeated allegations as facts in an application to file a brief with the Connecticut Supreme Court,” the pending lawsuit states.
The Connecticut Supreme Court refused to allow that brief to be submitted with those claims, but it is now permanently online. The lawsuit also says the brief from the victim’s rights group was used for fundraising purposes.
Becker, who was once the Title IX Coordinator and an attorney at the New York City Department of Education, apologized once Khan filed an ethics complaint.
The lawsuit says Becker should have known better, since she “spent over six years serving as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bronx County District Attorney Office, where she prosecuted hundreds of cases, including rape cases.”
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The Fix spoke to Khan’s lawyer, Alex Taubes, who provided insight into the ongoing litigation.
Khan alleges that the actions of Becker and the organization caused him emotional distress, and that the “defamatory brief remain[ing] publicly accessible online” causes “ongoing harm to Mr. Khan’s reputation.”
Taubes further said that “a victory would underscore the importance of accurate and fair representation in legal filings and public statements,” whereas if Khan loses, it could signal a right to “make reckless and damaging statements without accountability, potentially undermining the principle that acquittal should underscore the presumption of innocence.
Taubes said “society must address abuse vigorously” while at the same time, “it must also uphold principles of due process and fairness.”
“Defamatory statements that disregard due process not only harm the individuals involved but also weaken the integrity of our legal system,” he said. “It is essential to hold accountable those who make false accusations while continuing to support and protect genuine victims of abuse.”
The other groups that Khan is suing include Jewish Women International, Legal Momentum, the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Futures Without Violence, Advocates for Youth, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the Sanctuary for Families, and the Women’s Law Project.
None have responded to requests for comment in the past several weeks.
The Fix asked if they had any general statement to make regarding the lawsuit, why they joined the brief, and if they had any comment on the language in the original filing.
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IMAGE: Saifullah Khan/X
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