At 11:22 PM -0400 29/9/09, Dwayne Monroe wrote:
>Or, to follow Jordan's lead on the OJ saga, we can reference Chris
>Rock who, on the occasion of OJ's acquittal said: "black people are
>too happy, and white people are too mad." A pretty astute observation
>I thought which got to the heart of how both endlessly forgiving and
>wild eyed accusatory opinion were often inspired by other factors
>besides the case's raw details.
Which is why it is considered unwise to politicise the judicial system any more than unavoidable. For instance by having judges and prosecutors directly elected by popular ballot. Or permitting open public debate about the facts of a criminal case which has yet to be settled in the courts, the place where such matters should be decided.
Especially when it comes to emotive issues like a celebrity being accused of Paedophilia.
Pretty unlikely a person could get a fair trial in that atmosphere. You could hardly blame the accused from fleeing when his liberty is ransom to a public circus. No civilised legal system would extradite a person to a jurisdiction where such a mockery of a legal system prevailed. (Is this the reason he hasn't been extradited? I am only guessing.)
All the same, I am struck by the awfulness of the arguments used to defend the accused rapist/child molester. To fight it on the basis that the alleged offense is relatively minor seems really stupid and self defeating. Its a separate issue, but that kind of defense is so deeply offensive that it really should be punishable in and of itself.
I'll add it to my list of proposed speech-crimes, along with defense of torture. You have been warned, I intend to prosecute offenders. So watch your filthy mouths.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas