The MeidasTouch Podcast - Bonus: Justice for Survivors with MI Rep. Julie Brixie and Survivor and Advocate Isabelle Brourman

Episode Date: April 4, 2022

On today’s special episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, we have an incredibly important interview. Ben sits down with State Rep. Julie Brixie (MI) & sexual assault survivor and advocate Isabelle Brourman. Brourman, who is among eight individuals suing the University of Michigan for sexual misconduct by one of the schools music lecturers, recounts her experience as a survivor & details actions the school must take. State Rep. Julie Brixie is a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives. Representing the 69th House District, Rep. Brixie is spearheading the Justice For Survivors Package in response to Brourman’s (and the eight other victims) lawsuit against the school. The Justice For Survivors Package (HB5962-64) aims to eliminate the statute of limitations if there is a criminal conviction, extend the SOL from age 28 to age 48 & extend the SOL from the time a survivor discovers they were injured from 3 to 7 years. This episode contains descriptions of sexual abuse and trauma which may be distressing for some. To find your local sexual abuse victim service program, call the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network at 1-800-656-4673. As a reminder, Ben is one of the top lawyers in the country who represents victims of sexual assault, molestation, and sexual harassment in civil cases, so to find out if you have a case that is within the statute of limitations you can email him at [e-mail]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. What's up, Midas Mighty, and welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. This is Brett Mycelis, co-founder of Midas Touch. Today, we are back with another bonus episode to bring you more content highlighting important voices and issues that you need to hear. As we mentioned last week, we're going to be rolling out more of these bonus episodes exclusively for our podcast audience from here on out. We hope you enjoy them and share them with a friend. On today's bonus episode, Ben chats with Michigan State Representative Julie Brixey and sexual assault survivor and victims advocate

Isabel Browerman. Browerman, who's among eight individuals suing the University of Michigan for sexual misconduct by one of the school's music lecturers, recounts her experience as a survivor and details actions that the school must take. She's found support from Representative Brixey, who in response to Browerman's lawsuit has spearheaded the Justice for Survivors package, which is a set of three bills aimed at protecting survivors of sexual assault. The legislation, also known as Michigan House Bills 5962, 5963, and 5964, aims to eliminate the statute of limitations if there's a criminal conviction, extend the statute of limitations from age 28 to age 48, and extend the statute of limitations from the time a survivor discovers they were injured from three years to seven years.

As many of you know, my brother Ben is one of the top lawyers in the country who represents victims of sexual assault, molestation, and sexual harassment in civil cases. So to find out if you have a case that's within the statute of limitations, you can email him at ben at MidasTouch.com. That's B-E-N at M-E-I-D-A-S-T-O-U-C-H.com. As a trigger warning at the top of the show, we want you to know that this episode contains descriptions of sexual abuse and trauma, which may be distressing for some. To find your local sexual abuse victim service program, you could call the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network at 1-800-656-4673. That's 1-800-656-4673.

Without further ado, here is Ben's interview with Representative Julie Brixey and Izzy Browerman. We are joined by Michigan State Representative Julie Brixey, a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 69th House District, which currently includes the city of East Lansing and Michigan State University and Meridian Township. And Representative Brixey is spearheading the Justice for Survivors package, HB 59626364. It's a package. We're going to talk about what these are and how they help victims of sexual assault. And we're going to speak with a survivor of sexual assault, Isabel Browerman, someone who Jordi and I know as friends. Isabel's come over to our house,

known Jordi and Jordi's fiance for quite some time. And we've obviously followed this story as friends of Isabel's. And also it's been on the news, New York Times wrote an expose on what transpired at the University of Michigan. But Isabel's a victim of sexual assault from an instructor at University of Michigan. And she's one of eight individuals who are suing the University of Michigan. So Isabel, I appreciate you joining and sharing your courage with us and our audience today. Thank you for having me. Hey, everybody. And Isabel, turning your horrific circumstances into legislation, working with the great state representative Julie Brixey on this incredible package that's going to

help other survivors. It's just unfathomable, your courage and what you've been through. But I think we have to start with the beginning a little bit and we have to explain to our listeners and our viewers what you experienced there and how you even got the courage to bring legal action and to reach out to Representative Brixey. So if you can take us through that, we would greatly appreciate it.

Sure. So I graduated the University of Michigan in 2015, and I met my abuser who at the time I knew him as the number one professor at the University of Michigan. He had won the Golden Apple Award a year before I met him in 2013. I met him. 2012, he won the award. And four years prior to that, what I didn't know was that he had assaulted one of his students, Catherine McMahon, and Catherine had gone to the school and told them that he had assaulted her. The school's Title IX office conducted an investigation. They brought him in. He told them

that he had done, he had assaulted her and they offered him a last chance agreement is what it was called. And basically what it said was don't do it again. It's just like a piece of paper and keep your office door open. I never knew about the last chance agreement. No one knew about the last chance agreement except him. And so he was permitted to stay in that environment and to be fed students and ultimately to win the golden apple and to be crowned the number one professor. And that's how I met him. And, you know, he was a really charismatic and exciting teacher who was covering really interesting topics with American culture and music. And so I, I showed up and I had no idea that, you know, he was looking for people like me to take advantage of. And by the time that I met him, you know, because he wasn't punished in a meaningful way, his behavior was escalating. His abuse tactics were gaining sophistication.

And his door was not kept open during office hours. The first time he raped me was in his office with a locked door. And he continued to rape me during my time at the university. And he employed really serious grooming tactics. He sourced my journal entries as a student to find out about me, to learn about my dreams and my interests and to use them against me, to take an interest in me. And then eventually when I trusted him, as abusers usually do, he took that opportunity to isolate me and to break me down. He did everything as far as creating different aliases. He, you know, it got weird.

He said that he was in the Illuminati and maybe if he was some random guy, um, that came up to me and said that I would think he was crazy, but because of who he was, um, I believed him. I was scared. I was receiving sophisticated emails from encrypted accounts saying that I was being watched, saying that if I didn't have sex with him, that I was in danger of losing my life. So that was the position that I was put in, unfortunately. And there was, at that point, no way that I was going to come forward and report.

And so that's why it's crucial that the university takes the right steps when they learn of someone's behavior instead of letting it get to this point. Come to, and it's 2019. And my brain is less injured than it was before. And I'm able to take a look at what happened, take a step back. And I'm furious. And I confronted him. I sent him a message. I kept everything in writing. I knew that I had to keep a record of it. I messaged him. I sent him a message. I kept everything in writing. I knew that I had to keep a record of it.

I messaged him. I said, I need answers. And he was desperate for me to just shut up. And he was desperate for me to leave him alone. And so he basically confessed that he had created all of these false identities and a world around me because he was jealous of the life that was still ahead of me. And he also said that there was another person that he had abused that had come forward to the university. And that's when I knew that the whole thing was preventable. So that's when I decided to take real steps towards getting justice. And I, you know, I looked around by myself, the Title IX office, they have millions of dollars. They didn't fire him. They didn't, you know, they didn't produce any sort of record on his behavior. I did my own investigations and now there's eight of us. And it turns out there was another two people that came forward years later. And when they found out about these two students, what they did was they offered Conforth a retirement option.

So he retired in grace and went on to do other things. And the school basically gaslit another two students by saying, this wasn't that big of a deal. And Izzy, the school where we're talking about here is University of Michigan. And we've also, you know, have heard and state representative Julie Brixey represents the district of Michigan State. And everyone's heard about the Larry Nassar situation there where there was a second mass of sexual assault cases taking place there also being covered up in similar fashion. And I guess, Izzy, as you confronted your abuser and as you confronted the apparatus, the structures and the law and the school that allowed him to be in this place. You are confronted though with laws

that would basically cover up and sweep under the rug his conduct. Can you speak to that a bit? Yeah, I think there are two parts to it. One part is the statute of limitations. Science has proven that it takes seven to 10 years for a brain to really process trauma. We have three years in the state of Michigan. It's one of the lowest statutes, like one of the most narrow statute

of limitations as far as states go in this country. And so that prevents us from being able to get justice in a respectable way. The other way that prevents us from getting justice in a respectful way is that the school has immunity as a public institution. It's references itself in letters as recently as last week where they said, you know, we understand that there's an issue here with sexual misconduct, but we're immune to punishment because we're an arm of the state. So they can get away with whatever they want to. That's their mindset. I mean, Conforth wasn't even a tenured professor. He was a lecturer. It would have been so easy to just get him out of there. And they decided not to. So there's an arrogance there that's really violent and puts us all in a really dangerous situation. with you, perhaps, if you're lucky, you have to hope that your case is high profile enough that the media will pick it up, basically. And, you know, you'll have to amend the law. So I was out

there, you know, advocating basically for the cultural relevance of my rapist. Isabel, so tell us about your meeting with Representative Brixie. How were you introduced to her? And we'll start with there and then I'll get Representative Brixie's memory as well and her meeting with you and how you've been an inspiration to this bill and what this bill means to the people of Michigan and the United States. I met Representative Brixie. I was reading about what she was championing as far as realistic statute of limitations. I really liked all of the work she was doing in the realm of protecting survivors. And our attorneys are also, you know, very active in the advocacy of survivors in the state of Michigan.

So that's how I heard about Representative Brixey. And I was, you know, looking for, you know, I was looking around at this issue because I had seen Evan Rachel Wood was doing it in California with the Phoenix Act, and I wanted to make a change in Michigan. I mean, I think it should be everywhere. So I was really excited to see that Representative Brixie was doing something. Representative Brixie, you champion a lot of causes for the people of Michigan, the people of your house district. This has really been a lifelong mission of yours, championing survivors of sexual assault and making sure their rights are protected. Can you speak historically of your work in this area? And then we can talk about you meeting Izzy and the current bill that you have championed. Sure. You know, I live in Okemos, which is a suburban community right next to MSU's campus. My husband is a faculty member.

Our community is really tied closely to campus. And, you know, living in such close proximity to MSU and watching the reactions to the abuses suffered there by the hands of Larry Nassar really opened my eyes to the need for justice for survivors. And for me, I'm a mom. I have three kids who are now in their 20s. And a couple of our kids were personally impacted and abused by that MSU physician. And when I came to the legislature, I really wanted to do something about it because it's just so upsetting to me. So I'm a scientist by training. And to me, science has a purpose and it should really guide us in all different things that

we do, including our lawmaking. It's very well documented that the average age a child sexual assault survivor discloses their abuse is 52. The median age is 48. And this is because of a phenomenon that's called delayed disclosure. And it's very well documented in the scientific literature. So when you have here in Michigan, delayed disclosure combined with our state's archaic statute of limitations laws, 86% of child sex abuse goes unreported. And that's because Michigan laws harbor sexual predators and prevent survivors from accessing our justice system.

We're the only state in the country that passed a law restricting survivors' access to justice based on the identity of the abuser. The occupation of the abuser was referenced in the laws that were passed in 2018. And it's not about who committed the abuse. It's about those people who survived it. The legislature should not be dictating which survivors have access to justice. And that, you know, was kind of the impetus behind the bill package that we just introduced, a bipartisan bill package. I was really happy to have Republican John DeMoose join Democrat Kelly Breen and myself in this important work. And so if you can, Representative Brixey, tell us about this package, HB-5962-6364. What does it aim to achieve?

Okay. So the bill package will allow survivors to file a claim against their abuser or people who enabled abuse until their 48th birthday, 10 years from the date of the assault, or seven years after the discovery, depending on whichever is later. If the sex assault resulted in a criminal conviction, then there is no time limit to file a civil claim. The legislation really importantly also opens a two-year revival window for survivors outside the statute of limitation to bring forward a claim. And this is really critical because the reforms that were made in 2018 after the crimes committed at MSU, those reforms that improved statute of limitations a little bit, it gave people until age 28, they only worked prospectively or looking forward, and they didn't look backwards. So if you were abused in 2017,

or in 2016, you're out of luck, and you don't get that opportunity to come forward. And to me, recognizing that delayed disclosure exists and then passing a law that pretends to make things better, but ignoring all of the people who were abused. If you expect someone who's abused at seven to be able to hire an attorney and figure it out by the time they're 12, you're wrong, it isn't going to happen. You know, most of the people who are abused as children, they repress those memories, and they and they don't know it. And they don't realize that until later, maybe when they're adults with their own children, that they kind of figure out the trauma that happened to them. So that revival window is really important because it wipes away the statute of

limitations and says, you have two years to find out that we've done this legislation in Michigan and to get yourself mentally taken care of in a place where you can come forward. Because make no mistake, coming forward against a sex abuser is something that requires an incredible amount of courage to do. It is the ultimate in facing down someone who harmed you. The other thing that the bill package does is some like legal procedural stuff, but it's important for cases like Izzy's. And it would remove some procedural barriers such as written notice requirements involving state agencies and universities. So that real technical piece is an important one.

To me, as we brought forward these bills, and I introduced the bills last session, you know, they didn't get a hearing. These bills that I've introduced were passed through the Republican supermajority controlled Senate in 2018, but then they were gutted by the Republican controlled House. So as I have advocated for these bills, people have contacted me from all over the country. People have contacted me that were abused here in Michigan and that are looking to seek justice. And what strikes me as inhumane and morally corrupt is that the only survivors in Michigan

that have been able to get access to the justice system after their statute of limitations have expired are people who had enough resources or were abused by someone heinous enough to have the vast number of victims that they were able to get a lobbyist to come and lobby the legislature. That is just wrong. That's not what our justice system should be about. This is the United States of America. You should have a right to go to court and get some justice. But our laws here in Michigan are preventing you from doing that. Representative Briggs, what are the next steps with the bill? It was introduced. Do you have any estimate of when it will be signed into law, when it would take effect? Is there opposition from any constituencies that may hold this thing up? What's going on in that

regard? So this is the second time that I've introduced this package of bills. And it's the third time that this package of bills has been introduced and it has not yet been put up for a vote. So what has to happen next is we need to get a hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee. And if we get a hearing and if it passes through that committee, then it would go to the House floor where it would have the opportunity to be voted on. From there, then it has to go over to the Senate and go through the whole process again. The governor will sign these bills. It isn't the governor who is holding up these bills. It's the Republican-controlled legislature that's been holding the bills up. So what can people do, you know, who are watching this? You have laws that, well, a law that you, a bill that you introduced that you want to be a law that would

protect victims of sexual assault. That should clearly be a bipartisan issue. It's bipartisan supported in how you've introduced it. We have Republican legislators holding this bill up to help sexual assault victims. What can we do to put pressure on them to get this through? Folks can contact the Speaker of the House, Speaker Wentworth, and ask him to give the bill a hearing. And they can contact the committee chair of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Graham Filler, and ask for the bill package to have a hearing. This isn't a partisan issue. But there are a lot of very powerful groups that will be working behind the scenes to try to stop this from happening. And, you know, the gist of the opposition is that people, organizations and institutions don't want to be held liable for having a horrible serial predator amongst their ranks. But when

you look at the two biggest high profile cases that we've had in Michigan, you know, we passed these reforms in 2018 because of a Big Ten sports doctor at MSU who had abused patients, right? And so we reformed our system. And yet a year and a half later, we found that there was another Michigan Big Ten sports doctor who had abused even more patients, over 1000 patients had been abused. And our laws didn't, they weren't adequate, they weren't adequate for those people people who recognized that they were abused to come forward and seek the justice that they really deserve. So the church groups don't want this legislation to move because we know that any type of organization that has people who have

access to children who are unsupervised can be in a position where a serial sex abuser, a pedophile can take advantage of their position. And in fact, those folks often seek out employment that gives them access to children that, you know, it happens. And it's incumbent upon us to do whatever we can to stop these crimes from happening. And it starts with allowing people who are the survivors of those crimes getting access to justice. Because without that, light is never shined upon this terrible tragedy and these horrible crimes. Isabel, what message would you have to other victims of sexual assault out there who may be watching this interview, feeling hope about the type of legislation that Representative Brixie has introduced, hearing your story and feeling empowered about the actions that you took here to confront your abuser and to push forward

important legislation. What do you tell the women watching this who are going through something? You're not alone. We're working hard to make this place safer and more reliable for you to come forward and to heal on your own terms and take your time. And there is a community that can help you. And we're going to put those resources in the chat as well. But hang in there and you're not alone and it's not your fault. Representative Brixie, I'll give you the final word. We believe you, we care about you, and we want you to be able to seek justice for what happened

to you because it was wrong. And that's motivating me every single day to get justice for survivors. Isabel Browman, thank you for sharing your story. And State Representative Julie Brixey, thank you so much for your advocacy and thank you for being on the podcast today. Thanks for having me. My pleasure. Thank you so much for your advocacy and thank you for being on the podcast today. Thanks for having me. My pleasure. Thank you guys. There you have it. Thank you so much for listening to this incredibly important conversation.

I want to reiterate, my brother Ben is one of the top lawyers in the country who represents victims of sexual assault, molestation, and sexual harassment in civil cases. So to find out if you have a case that is within the statute of limitations, you could email him at ben at MidasTouch.com. To find your local sexual abuse victim service program, you can call the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network at 1-800-656-4673. If you enjoy these bonus episodes and want to hear more, reach out to us on Twitter and let us know what you think. We are endlessly grateful for all your support. We'll see you next time on the Midas Touch podcast and shout out to the Midas Mighty.