Judge blames assault victim

Definitely not. He should be starving in the streets.

Survivor blaming happens all too often in the justice system, and it's not acceptable.

 

Did you mean he as in the police officer? The judge in this case was a woman. Regardless, this is not acceptable at all. It shouldn't have happened at all, especially from a former police officer. Also, I do think that she should step down. She did later issue this apology

That apology isn't enough for me though

 

Lol, I didn't read it, and I thought surely only a man could have behaved so terribly from the bench.

 

No worries! When I was reading the article and saw the word she, I did a double take and had to reread the sentence

 

Signed the petition asking her to step down. It now has 9,390+.

I'm actually read a fair number of articles on this, and for whatever reason, it's still controversial in the mainstream culture. The argument goes that men are inherently dangerous, and there are activities that women should just avoid going out alone, going out at night, going to bars, drinking, wearing sexy outfits and so on. Aside from the obvious, which is that it restricts women's freedom, this line of thought just cedes all the ground and accepts the defeatist attitude that there can be no change. It's like watching a traditionally nice part of town go to hell when teenagers start coming in, partying to loud music, drinking, and fighting. We could say "well, I guess I won't take my kid to the park anymore," but at that point, you've given that ground up: a nice part of town has now turned into a seedy part of town. Instead, we should be trying to scour that dysfunctional culture from our town. Likewise, we (men) should be trying to scour the attitude from our peers that sexual assault is acceptable and that women are objects for our pleasure.

 

Where the heck does this judge think she is, Saudi Arabia? She should be removed from her position, and that police officer should be given a stricter punishment.

 

Ah lovely, and thoroughly appalling.

 

The guy needs a harsher punishment and what that judge said was absolutly apalling and that apology doesn't really seem good enough to me to make me think that she actually believes the woman was not somehow deserving/at fault for what happened by going to a bar.

 

Oh goody. Another asshole judge blaming the victim. It's just what we need.

 

Words just fail me at how wrong this is right now...

 

It's no surprise that this is coming from Arizona; they're in a race to the bottom to be the most-backward state in the country.

Welcome to our brave new world that you're helping create Justice Jacqueline Hatch. A world where a crime isn't a crime if the victim "deserved" it.

Let's be honest here, there are two things going on. First, she's protecting the cop simply because he's a cop. Second, she's playing the slut card; she's basically calling this woman a slut (because only a slut would go into a bar), and because the victim is a slut (in the mind of the Judge) she deserved to basically be molested. This type of crap (slut-shaming and slut-blaming) is used against women all the time.

Throw this woman off the bench.

 

Absolutely unacceptable violation of that woman's personal space, and he gets two years probation? What, are her feelings not important enough because she's a woman, is that it, Judge? Or is this just professional bias toward the fact that the perpetrator is a police officer, and they are clearly above the law and beyond all reproach.

 

reading the comments page on this is even more disheartening. insane. just because a woman is dressed up does not mean she is looking to be assaulted, just because she goes to a bar does not mean she is looking to be assaulted. maybe she wanted to go attend the concert in peace. maybe (hey, here's a weird thought!) she has rights too...

 

That judge definitely needs to step down. That is a horrible and cold thing to say to a victim. And unfortunately the justice system sucks with sexual crimes. I was raped (not just statutory but violently as well) by a friend who was over 18 when I was 14 and he got probation (he also had a history of sleeping with underage girls. He was a friend of mine's boyfriend) and a few months later he went and did it to another underage girl and then the state finally decided to throw him in prison but only for about 3 years. And that's not the only time something like that has happened to me and the guy got off with a slap on the wrist so unfortunately his sentence probably had nothing to do with the fact that he's an officer but the judge was way out of line. Any kind of sexual assault is traumatizing and as a woman you would think she would be a little more sympathetic. That cop clearly has been abusing his power and that judge basically showed him that it was acceptable for him to be doing so just because he has a badge.

 

the judge should (and possibly will) be brought up on ethics charges.

however, probation for this type of offense for a first-time offender isn't unusual

 

The fact that the judged blamed the victim for going to a bar as if it were a bad thing just makes me want to throw myself down a well. What is wrong with her? Bars are legal establishments that have to abide the same rules as any other place. If you abuse someone on the street, ya face goes to jail. If ya abuse someone at a bar, ya face goes to jail. Simple as that.

Judge better get her stuff straight! :tantrum:

 

So if the victim decided to fight back and smash a bottle over this guy's head or beat him unconscious, would the judge use the same reasoning that bad things tend to happen in bars and so nobody gets punished?