7 ms·

Can we please actually push for change within our government over this tragic loss. There seems to be a problem, how many more times are we going to allow the

Can we please actually push for change within our government over this tragic loss. There seems to be a problem, how many more times are we going to allow the justice department to do this to individuals? I hate to compare the notion, but to put it into perspective. Every time I hear of a woman getting raped and the man not being prosecuted because the woman just feels like she shouldn't, I get truly upset. This shows the man, that it was acceptable and he can do it again. How many more times are we going to allow the justice department to push around people of much lesser worth in this world?

tedunangst 14y ago
Every time I hear of a woman getting raped and the man not being prosecuted because the woman just feels like she shouldn't, I get truly upset. So you think the government should continue to prosecute cases even when the victim of the crime claims that no crime occurred?
- spoiledtechie 14y ago
  No, but they should stop overstepping their bounds.
- rauljara 14y ago
  It gets complicated sometimes. What if the mafia have repeatedly extorted money from a shop owner, and the government can prove it but the shop owner doesn't want to press charges because he's worried of what the mafia will do to him? That's not an abstract hypothetical, that's how the mafia traditionally operated. In the case of rape, the traditional defense is to drag the woman's reputation through the mud. Often there is pressure from the woman's place of work, and she really can suffer retaliation if she pursues the case. There aren't really easy answers in these cases, and I don't mean to imply that there are. But a blanket, "don't prosecute unless the victim wants us to" policy provides a lot of incentives for the criminal to engage in victim intimidation.
  - tedunangst 14y ago
    Yes, that's exactly my point. The (alleged) victim cannot be allowed to decide, because that opens the door to intimidation. In this case, look at the comments saying 4chan will "take care" of Ortiz. If JSTOR had stayed in the case, you don't think they would have been taken care of too? As a practical matter, prosecution without victim cooperation is difficult, but it's not a travesty of justice. It's the way the system is supposed to work.

tedunangst 14y ago

Every time I hear of a woman getting raped and the man not being prosecuted because the woman just feels like she shouldn't, I get truly upset. So you think the government should continue to prosecute cases even when the victim of the crime claims that no crime occurred?

spoiledtechie 14y ago
No, but they should stop overstepping their bounds.
rauljara 14y ago
It gets complicated sometimes. What if the mafia have repeatedly extorted money from a shop owner, and the government can prove it but the shop owner doesn't want to press charges because he's worried of what the mafia will do to him? That's not an abstract hypothetical, that's how the mafia traditionally operated. In the case of rape, the traditional defense is to drag the woman's reputation through the mud. Often there is pressure from the woman's place of work, and she really can suffer retaliation if she pursues the case. There aren't really easy answers in these cases, and I don't mean to imply that there are. But a blanket, "don't prosecute unless the victim wants us to" policy provides a lot of incentives for the criminal to engage in victim intimidation.
- tedunangst 14y ago
  Yes, that's exactly my point. The (alleged) victim cannot be allowed to decide, because that opens the door to intimidation. In this case, look at the comments saying 4chan will "take care" of Ortiz. If JSTOR had stayed in the case, you don't think they would have been taken care of too? As a practical matter, prosecution without victim cooperation is difficult, but it's not a travesty of justice. It's the way the system is supposed to work.