The Light We Shine into the Grey: A Restorative #MeToo Solution and an Acknowledgement of Those #MeToo Leaves in the Dark

In the past year and a half, American women have publicly discussed experiences of sexual assault, harassment, and—notably—grey-area misconduct in an unprecedented manner. The rhetoric of the #MeToo movement is rife with references to “shining a light” on a set of unexplored issues hitherto obscured in cultural darkness, to following women’s experiences into the grey. What is new about #MeToo, and what likely will be the through line that defines its historical importance, has been its sensitivity to nuance. The grey range of #MeToo misconduct is not a new problem.

It is emphatically new, however, as a subject of public discourse. As such, and given the unsettled expectations that noncriminal #MeToo accusations have generated, it invites a new legal solution. This Note proposes that solution in the form of a restorative justice response to greyarea #MeToo misconduct, based on indigenous jurisprudential models.