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I am not convinced that the solution to every problem we have in society is jail time, jail time, and more jail time.
Let me give an example. A woman makes a false complaint of rape that she clearly knows is false. The man falsely accused of this crime hires an attorney. The charges are ultimately dropped. In the meantime, the man incurs thousands of dollars in legal bills. The best case scenario would be to have the person falsely accused reimbursed for the money he spent.
Now, what happens when you put the other person in jail. They aren't working. They have legal bills of their own. They aren't in much of a position to reimburse the man who was falsely accused of this crime. Additionally, incarcerating a person costs the taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 to $65,000 a year.
What would make the most sense in such a situation is to use the threat of imprisonment to require the false accuser to reimburse the victim to the best of her ability. Keep her out of jail, but make her work. I also think this might be the best solution to many non-violent theft offenses. If the offender refuses to work and make any serious restitution than jail may be the only solution. However, it should be a last resort because its a lose/lose situation for those involved.
Sometimes life is just unfair. That doesn't mean the problem should be compounded.
Mark,
I agree with you. Jail isn't the place for anyone and everyone. Believe it or not, making an arrest is the LAST thing, in many circumstances, police officers want to do. You see, we see the fallout of everything you just wrote about.
At the sametime, one issue, which is HUGE right now, which your post over looked, is the arrest record. You get arrested for rape and you have an arrest record for rape. It doesn't matter the charge was dropped, you were found not guilty, et al. You apply for a job and an arrest record for rape shows up.
As you said, life isn't fair: MOST employers see that arrest record and the charge and will hire the other person. It doesn't matter you were found not guilty. It doesn't matter the charge was dropped. MOST employers won't even ask the circumstances surrounding the arrest and will just send you a letter saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."
Its extremely difficult to get rid of an arrest, once you have been. Expungement you (probably not you, but others) say? Yeah, it means NOTHING. The arrest is still there. It will show up on a background investigation. All because of a false complaint.
There needs to be some sort of ramification against people who make these complaints. Maybe not jail; however, maybe jail is the place. Remember the case of the football player just released from jail? He had a promising career and it was shattered by a false complaint. Even though he is getting a second chance in the NFL, what would his career have been like had he been given that first chance? The only thing the woman who falsely accused him of cared about, was if she would have had to pay back the million dollars she received in a settlement. And you don't think this woman shouldn't be in jail? I believe she should.
Unfortunately, I was taught early, that in the working world, you really do have to keep female collegues at arms length and make everything strictly business. All it takes is one false harassment charge and you're done. Being accused of sexual harrassment is sort of like being accused as being a pedophile--hey it might be false, and you may be able to even prove that, but the label never really goes away. It may not be right, but that's the way the world has gone.
I did learn that one the hard way when i befriended a person .I learned that lesson the hard way about who are your friends and who are work mates and they should never met in one life
It does seem in these cases, it is "Guilty", until cleared. And no doubt, an innocent person goes thru a lot of personal grief, and no doubt, significant personal cost, with getting a lawyer to manage defense. It does not help now, that so many of these cases have a racial slant attatched, which creates another dynamic.
Such as the case of the hotel maid in NYC, who accused that rich guy of raping her, just the accusation, destroyed this guy's career.
Same as the team accused of Rape...can't remember the college, Nancy Grace was the head of the lynch mob, gunning for their skins. And, that allegation was dismissed.
And another, which was very suspect, Garrett Wittels, this was found to be an extortion plot, by the Father of the accuser!
I'm not naive, but I am idealistic at times and false accusations (excuse me for going religious for a moment) are in that old top ten list of stuff not to do.
When I was thirteen, a friend's older brother tried to rape me at his house. He threw me on the ground in the bathroom and was getting ready to try his worst when I managed to grab an old metal hair pick (the kind people with curly hair used to use back in the day) and stabbed at his genitals as hard as I could. He got his hand down there just in time and when the ten little holes in his hand started bleeding he left.
I never told my parents, and no law enforcement was called. My best friend was date-raped in high school and didn't tell her parents for twenty years because she wasn't supposed to be at his house in the first place.
So yes, I get a little pissy when people make false accusations. It's hard enough to come forward with the real ones.
I don't doubt your story, Phil. It just ticks me off that people do things like that.
Here's what they do in my jurisdiction and happened recently. This lady in her mid 20's who allegedly was fondled, attempted rape, (can't be sure exactly what the charge was) at the age of 9 comes forward some 16 or so years later. The accused was a known drunk then and is still a drunk. The detectives get her to call him and the detectives are recording the whole conversation. After much prying and trying to refresh the guy's memory in his drunken state he finally comes out and says " I guess if you say so, that must have been what happened". They arrest him and pretty much by that statement alone he's found guilty and will spend the rest of his life behind bars, (in his 50's now).
Here's what they do in my jurisdiction and happened recently. This lady in her mid 20's who allegedly was fondled, attempted rape, (can't be sure exactly what the charge was) at the age of 9 comes forward some 16 or so years later. The accused was a known drunk then and is still a drunk. The detectives get her to call him and the detectives are recording the whole conversation. After much prying and trying to refresh the guy's memory in his drunken state he finally comes out and says " I guess if you say so, that must have been what happened". They arrest him and pretty much by that statement alone he's found guilty and will spend the rest of his life behind bars, (in his 50's now).
This is the part where what another member terms "my inner lawyer" comes out. Were there other accusations against the man over the years? Anybody can be falsely charged with something once. If there were multiple accusations over the years, the likelihood of his guilt goes up (see Penn State scandal).
If there was only one drunken statement to convict him, he had an incompetent attorney and / or a foolish jury. That's just my opinion. I do not work in law or LE. I do not know if the girl lied. Let's hope not.
We think we have the perfect legal system. Modern science now proves that our legal system is really bad. For example. The convected people now proven innocent via DNA. The fact that innocent people can go through our system and be proven quilty should be a major red flag for everyone. We need to go back to the beginning of our society and assume people are innocent until proven guilty.
We think we have the perfect legal system. Modern science now proves that our legal system is really bad. For example. The convected people now proven innocent via DNA. The fact that innocent people can go through our system and be proven quilty should be a major red flag for everyone. We need to go back to the beginning of our society and assume people are innocent until proven guilty.
Originally Posted by mortpes We think we have the perfect legal system. Modern science now proves that our legal system is really bad. For example. The convected people now proven innocent via DNA. The fact that innocent people can go through our system and be proven quilty should be a major red flag for everyone. We need to go back to the beginning of our society and assume people are innocent until proven guilty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by West of Encino
The legal system is far worse than the mafia.
Our (il)legal system is predicated on blind justice, except that our laws are written by politicians who are predominantly lawyers and judges, who perpetuate the system for their benefit. These people write hundreds of new laws every day to further a legal system which has become their personal playground (ATM). They are worse than the mafia; having become a shadow government, which profits on the misery that they have created intentionally.
Judges have been found handing down hard sentences to youth offenders for minor crimes; some no more than ticketing offenses. Judges ARE being bribed to send prisoners through the corporate prison system. Lives and justice mean nothing to these low-lifes.
As far as I know, no bribers have been brought to justice. Go figure!
Prisons for profit is a recipe for the total corruption of the justice system.
Last edited by steven_h; 12-11-2012 at 01:04 PM..
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Strauss-Kahn Settles with Rape Accuser for $6 Million
