This travesty of justice sets my blood to boil!

[Lord Dane]

Oh and what is all this happy horse-sh** with hypothesizing or second guessing the girl’s motives or intentions when there isn’t a shred of evidence proving or disproving it? – Which ironically enough proves the very stigma this girl has suffered this past year, yet those scumbags are ‘protected’ from that because they are ‘minors’? Instead of speculating that she was some woman scorned which regrettably does happen however with those rapists taking a plea bargain, it expounds upon the surety of their guilt and supports the validity of her accusations. She should be commended for her courage to stand and demand justice and not allow her honor to be further violated for the court’s expediency or society’s misplaced empathy for underage rapists.

I take it you have never been on the receiving end of such outrage, Sir Brian, otherwise you might not be so blind to the possibility.  That is not to say that I am against your view- I share it, but Sir James reminded me, especially in this day and age, that not all people are as noble or honorable as we would like to believe them to be.

I should like to be able to take anyone at their word, if only because I am of that mind- but I would be naive to believe that it is so.  I am also of the mind that teenaged boys are quite aware of their actions and should be punished for it- without sealing their records so they can go on with their lives...they should have to live under the stigma of 'ex-con' just like any other foolish enough to commit a crime and get caught.

Minors or not, they have to contest with the future of a sex offender registry if the rape charges stick but it depends on the state laws that are applicable. The stigma alone WILL ruin their future lives so to carry some weight into how they act even if it doesn't seem like justice ....

[SirNathanQ]

Sir Brian, you must understand I wish not to trivialize such a heinous act such as rape. As I said, a more fitting punishment is to play leapfrog with unicorns. It would be a true injustice if both parties received anywhere near similar punishments.
A plea bargain for rape is nothing to be taken lightly. The law would much prefer a confession and 100% certainty that they have them and can punish them than risk a trial, where anything can happen. In a trial, even if the boys plead guilty, a jury could still find them innocent. Think of it less as a lighter punishment, and more as assurance on the law's part.

Lord Dane makes a good point, that  future on the Sex Offender registry is nothing to be trivialized either. With their records sealed, it's probably worse, since they have nothing to disprove everyone's initial thoughts of "Child Molester!"   

[Lord Dane]

Sir Brian, you must understand I wish not to trivialize such a heinous act such as rape. As I said, a more fitting punishment is to play leapfrog with unicorns. It would be a true injustice if both parties received anywhere near similar punishments.
A plea bargain for rape is nothing to be taken lightly. The law would much prefer a confession and 100% certainty that they have them and can punish them than risk a trial, where anything can happen. In a trial, even if the boys plead guilty, a jury could still find them innocent. Think of it less as a lighter punishment, and more as assurance on the law's part.

Lord Dane makes a good point, that  future on the Sex Offender registry is nothing to be trivialized either. With their records sealed, it's probably worse, since they have nothing to disprove everyone's initial thoughts of "Child Molester!"

I sympathize with Sir Brian...but have faith in one thing.....where justice doesn't present itself in a courtroom, if tends to find itself in other forms & other places....

Keep to your moral code & hold onto your faith. Because we are approaching a turning point for our civilization & it will be needed for the survival of mankind. Good men are measured by their faith, decency, and knowing when action is justified. Always protect yourself, your brethren, & the innocent. More importantly, teach these skills onto those you cherish so they know.

[Sir Brian]

Keep to your moral code & hold onto your faith. Because we are approaching a turning point for our civilization & it will be needed for the survival of mankind. Good men are measured by their faith, decency, and knowing when action is justified. Always protect yourself, your brethern, & the innocent. More importantly, teach these skills onto those you cherish so they know.

Truly words of wisdom Lord_Dane and I agree with wholeheartedly.

I also would like to offer my apologies to everyone if I seemed to come off a bit heavy on this subject matter, as I related a bit in my earlier response I retain some very vivid experiences of having my reputation ‘dragged through the mud’ and it remains a poignant focal point on some of my perspectives.   

[Sir James A]

I also would like to offer my apologies to everyone if I seemed to come off a bit heavy on this subject matter, as I related a bit in my earlier response I retain some very vivid experiences of having my reputation ‘dragged through the mud’ and it remains a poignant focal point on some of my perspectives.   

I'd like to also offer an apology for going way out with the theories and thoughts. I got on here to PM you, and saw the thread reply. Myself, knowing someone falsely accused of improper sexual conduct, including a police report, and this being a similar situation (party with lots of drinking - blacked out - but no pictures) ... I felt torn on what to believe in this case, especially with such an immense lack of relevant information given to us.

With only the plea bargain so far, and no sentence actually given, the judge still has the right to accept, modify or outright deny the plea bargain. In essence, she flew off the handle in court and on twitter based on what *might* be the sentence, without it even happening. We'll likely never know what they actually get, because of their ages. If she tweets it, I wouldn't fault her one bit.

A few new-ish interesting developments on both sides:

A District Court judge has scheduled a Friday hearing on a motion to remove the Jefferson County attorney's office from the case of two teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting 17-year-old Savannah Dietrich.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120730/NEWS01/307300035/Judge-sets-date-motion-removing-county-attorney-from-Savannah-Dietrich-case

Mejia was obviously angry with Dietrich’s actions, saying his client’s “privacy has been trampled. He’s accused of things he didn’t do. Anybody who looks at (the postings online) believes things about this kid that are false, but there is nothing I can do about that.�

Mejia said he could not talk about the facts of the case, as he is bound by juvenile confidentiality.

http://gawnews.com/?p=3487

[SirNathanQ]

And forgive me if my words seemed to trivialize the matter at hand, or make the actions taken by both parties in any way appear comparable.

These are sad times, when it must be considered that a woman would falsely accuse a man of such a heinous act, and sadder still that such fiends, rapists, and the like still walk the streets, or are protected by society.

[Sir William]

I take it you have never been on the receiving end of such outrage, Sir Brian, otherwise you might not be so blind to the possibility. That is not to say that I am against your view- I share it, but Sir James reminded me, especially in this day and age, that not all people are as noble or honorable as we would like to believe them to be.

I should like to be able to take anyone at their word, if only because I am of that mind- but I would be naive to believe that it is so.  I am also of the mind that teenaged boys are quite aware of their actions and should be punished for it- without sealing their records so they can go on with their lives...they should have to live under the stigma of 'ex-con' just like any other foolish enough to commit a crime and get caught. 

Truly Sir William you have vastly presumed wrong. In fact I most certainly have firsthand experience in the recent past and still ongoing, of being wrongfully condemned and disgraced by disreputable and nefarious individuals so I am keenly aware of the ‘possibility’ of the false and wicked accusations of ignoble malcontents.

I also have no delusions as to the true state of humanity Sir William which as a whole is utterly corrupt and morally deficient. I live daily with the expectation that I will see the absolute worst from any new person I happen to meet and ultimately hope I end up seeing them at their very best; however until such a time I am forever vigilant of their words and actions to warrant or moderate my suspicions.

Then I am not sure what it was I said wrong, Sir Brian.  You have been the victim of a wrongful accusation, that much is clear- my POV is only that it not occur in this case as well.  If they did it, burn them for it...but if they did not- then burn HER for the falsehood.  This little blurb caught my eye in particular, from the gawnews.com site:

"In the end,  we hope that the Judge decides to open of the proceedings so that all the facts can be known. We hope the judge rejects the pleas and conducts a trial.  We do not understand how someone who cried at night for months because she was worried about who saw her victimization, now wants to go, apparently, on Television to discuss it. That is a mystery to us. Most media outlets, respectful of victims do not publish the names of sex crime victims because it is widely seen as shameful. Maybe that is wrong. Maybe Ms. Dietrich evolved and has become a stronger person.  Maybe she likes attention.  We do not know. A public trial or hearing could answer some of these questions."