DMFParadox
Posts: 1405
Joined: 9/11/2007 Status: offline
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>>Hmmm.... do you know what this chap actually did? He told me once. It was sufficiently bland that it's not worth posting, either in the sense of "But He Was Innocent!" or "But He Deserved It!" He deserved something. Maybe a week or two in jail to sober up and remember not to party so hard next time. This, he did not deserve. At least if his story is true, and I have no reason to doubt him. Here's a starting point link to some of the things that could have landed him under the bridge. Take special note of the advice they give on giving statements to the police, on some of their topic pages. http://www.dmt-law.com/lawyer-attorney-1465716.html What he did would matter in a different frame. But here... The point is that our legal system does not recognize the woman's right to let it go. If the police are called in, and they see something, they're obliged to press charges on behalf of the state. Normally, the issue gets dropped in court. Sometimes it doesn't. Child pornography is one example - if you've visited any websites that even had an ad with an explicit female form that could be potentially under 18, and the police manage to collect a statement from you that you were the sole user during the span of time that the advert was logged, then... game over. Third degree felony. That's one example of many where having the cops called in is a bad thing. Rape is another case where the lines are blurry. Another anecdote: I was the key witness in a rape trial 18 years ago. The man in question did not rape the woman, in my presence I saw enough to know this for certain. But since I was underage, the state prosecutor managed to dismiss my testimony. The only evidence she had were 'bruises' in photographs, and to my eyes the bruises weren't visible. Sometimes the law is fair. Sometimes it's not. It's fair often enough that you don't have to live in a cave. It's unfair often enough that fear is justified. Just like walking in the street will sometimes end up getting you hit by a car, dating will sometimes land you in jail.
< Message edited by DMFParadox -- 11/1/2010 3:39:31 AM >
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bloody hell, get me some aspirin and a whiskey straight "The role of gender in society is the most complicated thing I’ve ever spent a lot of time learning about, and I’ve spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics." - Randall Munroe
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