Anna Stubblefield

{{Short description|American former philosophy professor and convicted sexual assailant}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Anna Stubblefield

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| criminal_penalty = 656 days in prison (previously 12 years)

| criminal_status = Released

| conviction = Third-degree aggravated sexual assault

| locations =

| spouse =

| resting_place =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|12|3}}

| victims = 1

| apprehended = 2015

| states = New Jersey

| criminal_charge = First-degree aggravated sexual assault (2 counts; overturned)

| motive = Sexual gratification

| birth_name = Marjorie Anna Stubblefield

| known_for = Sexual abuse of a man with severe cerebral palsy

}}

Marjorie Anna Stubblefield ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|n|ə|}}; born December 3, 1969) is a former professor of philosophy at Rutgers University–Newark, practitioner of facilitated communication, and convicted sexual assaulter.{{Cite journal |last=Mintz |first=Kevin |date=2017-11-26 |title=Ableism, ambiguity, and the Anna Stubblefield case |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1356058 |journal=Disability & Society |language=en |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=1666–1670 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2017.1356058 |issn=0968-7599}} Stubblefield was found guilty of raping a man with severe cerebral palsy when she reportedly believed to have communicated and gained consent from him using the discredited practice of facilitated communication. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In October 2016, the family was awarded $4 million in a civil lawsuit against Stubblefield. The 2023 documentary film Tell Them You Love Me covers the abuse case.

Early life

Stubblefield grew up in Plymouth, Michigan, with her mother, Sandra McClennen, and her father. She was raised Jewish. During her high school years, Stubblefield wrote for the school newspaper, studied Braille, and learned American Sign Language.{{cite news |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2015-10-20 |title=The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield.html |access-date=2024-06-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Academic career

Stubblefield received her PhD in 2000, and became "a prominent scholar in the field of Africana philosophy", and chairwoman of the American Philosophical Association's Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers, and the author of a book published by Cornell University Press titled Ethics Along the Color Line. In 2001, she became a philosophy professor at Rutgers University–Newark, where she also served as a faculty advisor to the university's Disability Services Office. Her university website described her as a "Facilitated Communication Trainer by the FC Institute at the School of Education, Syracuse University."{{cite web |date=2010-06-27 |title=Anna Stubblefield |url=http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~philos1/component/content/component/content/article/8-fac/7-anna.html |access-date=2024-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627171006/http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~philos1/component/content/component/content/article/8-fac/7-anna.html |archive-date=2010-06-27}}

Abuse and legal proceedings

In 2015, Stubblefield was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault against a man with severe cerebral palsy, which makes assessing his mental capacity with accuracy impossible. At the time the investigation began in 2011, Stubblefield was the chair of Rutgers-Newark's philosophy department, whose professional work centered on ethics, race, and disability rights,{{cite news |author1=Daniel Engber |date=October 20, 2015 |title=The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020210800/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield.html |archive-date=October 20, 2015 |access-date=October 21, 2015 |work=The New York Times Magazine |quote=...the judge ruled that facilitated communication failed New Jersey’s test for scientific evidence.}} but she was subsequently put on administrative leave without pay and removed as chair of the philosophy department.{{cite news |last1=Wichert |first1=Bill |date=January 8, 2015 |title=New Jersey: Judge OKs document detailing Rutgers professor's sexual relations with a man with severe cerebral palsy|url=http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/01/judge_approves_document_use_in_trial_of_rutgers_professor_accused_of_sexually_assaulting_mentally_di.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091353/http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/01/judge_approves_document_use_in_trial_of_rutgers_professor_accused_of_sexually_assaulting_mentally_di.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=21 March 2015 |work=NJ Advance Media |publisher=New Jersey Online LLC}}{{cite news |last1=Zambito |first1=Thomas |date=April 25, 2014 |title=Judge questions 'consent' defense in case of Rutgers-Newark professor accused of sexual assault |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/judge_questions_consent_defense_in_case_of_rutgersnewark_professor_accused_of_sex_assault.html |access-date=March 21, 2015 |work=NJ Advance Media for NJ.com |publisher=New Jersey Online LLC}} Dead link as of October 22, 2015

The victim was identified as D.J., a 33-year-old African-American man with severe mental disabilities who cannot speak, has cerebral palsy, and is unable to stand independently or accurately direct movements of his body. Based on his disability, his mother and brother were appointed his legal guardians. Stubblefield stated that she had successfully communicated with him, determining he was of normal intelligence. She subsequently brought him to conferences where she "held him out as a success story". In 2011, she revealed to his mother and brother that she had had sexual relations with D.J. and said that they were in love, attributing consent to messages received while facilitating. Stubblefield stated that the two of them had a mutually consenting relationship established through facilitated communication. However, testing of D.J. by family members failed to establish the ability to communicate, and Stubblefield was thanked but denied further access to D.J. She continued to attempt to maintain contact with D.J. and began challenging control of D.J.'s legal guardians over him. In August 2011, the family contacted the police.{{cite news |last1=Szteinbaum |first1=Sabrina |title=Former RutgersNewark philosophy department chairwoman to appear in court for alleged sexual abuse of mentally handicapped man |url=http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2014/04/former-rutgers-newark-philosophydepartment-chairwoman-to-appear-in-court-for-alleged-sexual-abuse-o |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402171541/http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2014/04/former-rutgers-newark-philosophydepartment-chairwoman-to-appear-in-court-for-alleged-sexual-abuse-o |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 21, 2015 |work=The Daily Targum |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey}} Dead link as of October 22, 2015

Stubblefield pleaded not guilty to the charges and said that facilitated communication revealed D.J. was mentally capable, while prosecutors said that facilitated communication was scientifically discredited and that D.J. did not have the ability to consent to sexual relations. Experts evaluating D.J. testified he did not have the intellectual ability to consent to sexual activity.{{cite web |last1=Wichert |first1=Bill |date=2015-10-02 |title=Professor found guilty of sexually assaulting disabled man |url=http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/10/professor_found_guilty_of_sexually_assaulting_disa.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207215734/https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/10/professor_found_guilty_of_sexually_assaulting_disa.html |archive-date=2019-02-07 |access-date=4 October 2015 |website=NJ.com}} Facilitated communication testimony from D.J. was not allowed as the technique was ruled unreliable under New Jersey law. After a three-week trial, the jury found Stubblefield guilty of two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, the equivalent of rape in New Jersey. After conviction, the judge revoked bail, saying that she was a flight risk. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison.{{cite web |title=Professor who abused disabled man sentenced to prison |url=http://www.startribune.com/sentencing-for-prof-convicted-of-sex-abuse-of-disabled-man/365390581/ |access-date=15 January 2016 |work=Associated Press via Star Tribune}}{{Dead link|date=August 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} This included requiring her to register as a sex offender.{{cite web |author=David Porter, Associated Press |date=15 January 2016 |title=Professor who abused disabled man gets 12 years in prison |url=http://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Sentencing-for-prof-convicted-of-sex-abuse-of-6760684.php |access-date=16 January 2016 |publisher=Times Union |agency=Associated Press}}

Before sentencing, Stubblefield wrote to Judge Siobhan Teare, stating, "I was deeply in love... I believed that he and I were intellectual equals, and that our romantic relationship was consensual and mutually loving. I intended no harm, and I had nothing to gain."{{Cite news |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2016-02-03 |title=What Anna Stubblefield Believed She Was Doing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/magazine/what-anna-stubblefield-believed-she-was-doing.html |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In July 2017, an appeals court overturned her conviction and ordered a retrial on the basis that it was a violation of her rights to not allow her to use facilitated communication as a defense.{{cite court|litigants=State of New Jersey v. Stubblefield|vol=162|reporter=A.3d|opinion=1074|court=N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div|date=2017-06-09|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2725698065028411594}}{{cite news |last=Napoliello |first=Alex |date=11 May 2018 |title=No more prison for ex-Rutgers professor who sexually assaulted disabled student |url=https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/05/anna_stubblefield_sentenced_for_second_time.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003014216/https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/05/anna_stubblefield_sentenced_for_second_time.html |archive-date=3 October 2018 |access-date=2 October 2018 |publisher=NJ.com}} In 2018, she pleaded guilty to "third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact" and was sentenced to time served. In October 2016, the family was awarded $4 million in a civil lawsuit against Stubblefield.{{cite web |last1=Moriarty |first1=Thomas |date=2018-03-19 |title=Ex-Rutgers prof admits it was a crime to have sex with disabled man |url=http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/03/ex-rutgers-newark_prof_admits_criminal_sexual_cont.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319232326/http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/03/ex-rutgers-newark_prof_admits_criminal_sexual_cont.html |archive-date=2018-03-19 |access-date=20 March 2018 |publisher=NJ.com}}

The 2023 documentary film Tell Them You Love Me by Nick August-Perna covers the story.{{cite web |last=Latif |first=Leila |date=3 February 2024 |title=Tell Them You Love Me review – this chilling documentary is vital, challenging TV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/feb/03/tell-them-you-love-me-review-this-chilling-documentary-is-vital-challenging-tv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240204032218/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/feb/03/tell-them-you-love-me-review-this-chilling-documentary-is-vital-challenging-tv |archive-date=4 February 2024 |website=The Guardian}}

= Reactions =

The victim's brother spoke during Stubblefield's sentencing hearing, stating, "[Stubblefield] is not Sandra Bullock and this is not 'The Blind Side'... She raped my brother... She tried to supplant his life with some version of life she thought was better."{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Rutgers prof gets 12 years in prison |url=https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2016/01/15/rutgers-prof-gets-years-prison/78874642/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Courier News |language=en-US}}

Daniel Engber covered Stubblefield's trials for The New York Times. In 2018, Engber wrote:

"From my position in the gallery, reporting on the trial, it always seemed to me that Anna was entrapped by the grandiosity of her good intentions. As an academic, she devoted much of her career to social-justice activism and the philosophy of race and disability, warning in her published work that men like D.J. (who is black) were like 'the canary's canary' in the coal mine — 'the most vulnerable of the vulnerable' — and subject to both white supremacist and ableist oppression. In teaching D.J. how to type, using a widely disavowed method known as 'facilitated communication,' she believed she was restoring his right of self-determination: empowering him to take college classes, present papers at conferences and eventually express his longing for the older, married, white woman who had been his savior."{{Cite news |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2018-04-05 |title=The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield, Revisited |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield-revisited.html |access-date=2024-07-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

James Todd, a professor of psychology at the Eastern Michigan University and a vocal critic of facilitated communication argued that Syracuse University, where Stubblefield received her training, held some of the responsibility for the crime. In 2018, he said:

"For decades, the Syracuse administration has not only tolerated dangerous facilitated communication pseudoscience, it has even openly championed FC over clear and established science... It is not too late. Syracuse University can still renounce and repudiate FC. It can take real responsibility for all the harm left in its wake."{{Cite web |date=2018-03-19 |title=Educator trained in discredited communication method at SU pleads guilty to criminal sexual contact |url=https://dailyorange.com/2018/03/educator-trained-discredited-communication-method-su-pleads-guilty-criminal-sexual-contact/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=The Daily Orange}}

Personal life

She was married to Roger Stubblefield, with whom she has two children. Since their divorce, Roger has called Anna a "pathological liar and narcissist".{{cite web|title= Where Anna Stubblefield & Derrick Johnson Are Today After Tell Them You Love Me's Controversial Case|website=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/where-anna-stubblefield-derrick-johnson-are-today-after-tell-them-you-love-mes-controversial-case/ar-BB1oDnXY}}

Works

= Books =

Ethics Along the Color Line. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 2005. ISBN 9780801442674.

= Articles =

"[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/210160 Beyond the Pale": Tainted Whiteness, Cognitive Disability, and Eugenic Sterilization]." In Hypatia 22, no. 2, (Spring 2007): 162-181.
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9833.1996.tb00254.x "Contraceptive Risk-Taking and Norms of Chastity."] In Journal of Social Philosophy 27, no. 3, (1996): 81-100.
"[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444322781.ch17 The Entanglement of Race and Cognitive Dis/ability.]" In [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444322781 Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy], edited by Kittay, Carlson, 293-313. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
"Race, Disability, and the Social Contract." In The Southern Journal of Philosophy, no. 47, (2009): 104-111.
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0047-2786.00082 "Race as Families."] In Journal of Social Philosophy 27, no. 1, (2001): 99-112.
"[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtkaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 Living a Good Life... In Adult-Sized Diapers."] In [https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/law/human-rights/disability-and-good-human-life Disability and the Good Human Life], edited by Bickenbach, Felder, Schmitz, 219-242. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.