> Doug writes 'what makes all this politically interesting is the way the cultural elite.. has united to defend its own'. Yes, there might indeed be some exaggerated sense of entitlement there, but it does not follow that Polanski should be clobbered to get the cultural elite.
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> And also 'So it's ok to dodge a prison sentence - not one for political crimes, but for what looks to be a very nasty common crime - for 35 years by hiding out in Paris and Gstaad?' but that's not quite what happened: Polanksi made serious attempts to negotiate with the US authorities, but those were frustrated by the Judge's own showbusiness ambitions.
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> It might be a surprise to you, but Europeans have a low opinion of US justice - in particular, and I know that the difference is one of degree rather than kind - US laws on sex offenders seem to be a bit deranged. see, for example, Louis Theroux's documentary on Coalinga State Hospital (news report: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-weekends-television-louis-theroux-ndash-a-place-for-paedophiles-sun-bbc2-1671224.html). I don't think I would support extradition of any convicted paedophile to California if this report of the law there is accurate.
It might surprise you but ALL NDN's have a very low opinion of the US Justice system. So what. Unless you favor extraditing Polanski and trying him you favor allowing the wealthy to simply flee whenever they don't get the preferential treatment they feel entitled to. Unfortunately there are no other options available in this case. His attempts to work with US authorities were not about finding justice but simply lifting the charges so he could travel freely. It was cramping his style not being allowed to come to the US. Apparently for you showboating judges were the real problem rather than the fact that Polanski was trying to find a way to make the charges go away without inconveniencing him any further. While SA may find it trite the fact that Polanski is both wealthy and white has everything to do with case. I do not favor sending Polanski to prison. That would do no good. I would favor a very stiff fine on the order of $1Million donated to organizations that deal with rape victims and 500 hours of community service working for such organizations. Prison is only for those would continue to harm others were they not incarcerated.
While on the subject of rape it may surprise many to find that the overwhelming majority of rapes of NDN women are perpetrated by non-NDN's. If the rape occurs on the Rez only the Fed's can charge someone with the crime, Local authorities have no jurisdiction and Tribal authorities cannot detain white. The Federal authorities apparently have more important things to do however. It is common knowledge in NDN Country that whites can rape NDN women on the Rez with near complete impunity. So yes, seeing a wealthy white man in particular rape someone and then escape because of jurisdictional games is most offensive to me.
John Thornton