“For her own safety.”
Where, you ask? Surely Saudi Arabia, or Afghanistan, or Iran. Right? It must be. I mean, only those backwards countries do things like imprison rape victims.
Try Akron, Ohio.
A 14-year-old Ohio girl has been jailed nearly a week after failing to testify against a man accused of molesting her.
Refuse to testify against the man who sexually assaulted you and we’ll put you in jail. But don’t worry, honey, it’s for your own good. Not like, say, due process:
Court records show the girl has requested a lawyer. But jail officials say she isn’t permitted contact with anyone unless prosecutors approve.
Prosecutors say the teen is a material witness and they want her jailed for her safety. A judge has ordered that she be held indefinitely.
Now, she isn’t an accused criminal, and so she doesn’t automatically get access to an attorney. But she’s sure being treated like one, isn’t she? Worse, even — accused criminals (at least those held on U.S. lands) can’t be indefinitely detained.
Oh, and the guy who assaulted her? He’s free.
The girl failed to show earlier this month at the trial of a 20-year-old man, who’s accused of having unlawful sexual conduct with her. He is free on bond.
That is scintillatingly screwed up. Anyone want to lay odds on how far a judicial misconduct hearing would get? (Hint: the payout would make even the toughest bookie cry a river.)
I’m amazed at the number of idiot judges in this country.
Brings new meaning to the phrase “Impeach the fucker.”
Jeez, I can’t imagine why a young woman wouldn’t want to go into a court and testify to being sexually assaulted. Not as if the people questioning her would be hostile to her or tear into her habits and behavior or anything.
Good news:
http://www.wkyc.com/news/regional/akron_article.aspx?storyid=52620
They finally let her go…’bout damn time!
Paul Craig Roberts has for quite some time been commenting on the fact that our judicial system is increasingly geared toward getting convictions at all costs. The victims don’t matter, due process doesn’t matter, it’s all about getting a good conviction rate.
The government using tactics like this to coerce testimony is hardly surprising, and it is a symptom of a much larger problem in our current criminal justice system.
Jill, since you’re a law student, is this legal? If you are accused of a crime, then you have due process rights and all that, but if you’re not you can be jailed indefinitely?
It sounds like something straight out of “der Prozess”.
Ohio:the NeueReich
If I have to cross the country by car again I’ll try to avoid Ohio. The people there are patently insane.
Is there anyone we can write a letter to? It’s just so incredibly awful.
Things in that story do not add up and something is missing.
Why no mention of her parent/s? If they were objecting I would have expected at least a quote, so I wonder if they don’t approve of this. She could well be a runaway threat, which does complicate the issue – given the oh-so-wonderful life that teenage runaways lead.
I’m not sure what you’re saying here, but if it’s that the lack of a comment by her parents signifies their approval of her treatment, that’s ridiculous.
What gets me is that the guy she refused to testify against is always referred to as “the man accused of molesting her.” Passive sentence structure for “accused.” This makes it seem to me as though she isn’t the one who made the accusation, which in turn makes the accusation suspect, as it seems to be made by someone who wasn’t there for the alleged abuse.
It’s entirely possible that the charges spring from the girl’s parents simply suspecting them of having sex, and wanting to either protect or punish her. There’s plenty of parents who would attack any threat to their daughter’s chastity, simply on principle of “how DARE she have sex,” and plenty of parents who wouldn’t believe their daughter when she denies having sex.
That would fit with both her refusal to testify, and her running away from home. And if she’s being abused, by either or both parties, coercing her into testifying is truly cruel. If the prosecution has so little case that winning depends on coersion and bullying of the person on whose behalf they’re allegedly filing the case, they have no case. If she’s scared of the person she’s testifying against, the proper thing to do is whatever’s necessary to make her feel secure, not force her to testify. If you become what you’re fighting against in order to win, you haven’t won.
Wow – and I thought what was going on in New Zealand at the moment was bad.
Hey Scorpio -
Not all Ohio resident’s are “patently insane”
how’s that duke rape trial going?
Hasn’t started yet, Sarah. As I’m sure you know.
the trial hasn’t…..the case certainly is underway, as i’m sure you know as well.