In The News

[DoomRulz]

Jury's still out on the witchcraft

[Kimarhi]

Happiness level increasing.

[Topazora]

I had jury duty about three weeks ago,the case involved A girl who was accusing a man of sexual assault,basically she was saying he touched her inappropriately.She would of been 12 at the time and shes 20 now.The man has a daughter with the mother and was asked to babysit while the mother and her new boyfriend went to a car derby for the weekend.

The accused seemed like a decent bloke,he payed his child support had a good job and would visit his daughter regularly and they lived in the countryside so he would have to travel.The family was kind of weird,mother had kids with multiple men and when she was on the stand she seemed weird laughing smiling all that stuff.For whatever reason the girl who said she was touched comes forward when she is 16 and says he done this,she also changed her statement three times.When questioned on the stand she was very defensive couldn't answer questions etc.

There was no evidence to convict the man,it was her word against his basically,innocent until proven guilty and all that,so we found him not guilty it was the only logical decision 12 of us could come up with.There was 2 people in the jury though that said he was guilty because and I quote "he looks like a dirtbag"and that they ''felt sorry for her'' took us 4 hours to show them how stupid their decision was before they agreed he was not guilty.

Now,he could of done this but there was no evidence to prove without reasonable.the Judge told us that to find a person guilty it has to be of a high standard,you are talking 99% 98%

I know and understand that false accusations of rape are rare.  It was my mistake for using it as an example for the point I was trying to make, as it took it down a road I had not anticipated.

As rare as false rape accusations are, its sad to see that it can be so detrimental as to put doubt in a lot of people's minds.  While I believe that punishment for rape should be harsh, especially when rape is just the starting point of something far more serious- like serial murders.

[Kimarhi]

There is always a flip side.  Guys can get away with saying it was consensual sex a lot of times to.  Its an ugly crime that the best resources should go to solve.

[AliceApocalypse]

What if it happened to you? Your wife, daughter, sister, mom?  Opinions would change if you had to sit and hold a loved one's hand in doctor's office waiting for an HIV/STD test because of an assault, or the police calling your home after a loved one was found drugged, cut and unconscious on the side of the road. 

Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victim still has to sit in a court room and relive their experience over and over again in front of people.  Many true victims never even pursue the rapist because of the process to convict itself. 

Hate on me for being a gun owner, but the above scenario will never be me or a loved one of mine.  If an attempt to rape is made, the victim has no way of knowing if the rapist has AIDS.  So yes, the victim's life is threatened in this scenario. 

Don't misunderstand, if someone I loved or myself did become a victim, I would not go looking for street vengeance but I would use lethal force for prevention.

[Topazora]

There is always a flip side.  Guys can get away with saying it was consensual sex a lot of times to.  Its an ugly crime that the best resources should go to solve.

This is true.  Well, the original point has been buried and forgotten for a completely different issue, because I used a sensitive situation as an example.  I'm going to stop now before I hurt myself.

What if it happened to you? Your wife, daughter, sister, mom?  Opinions would change if you had to sit and hold a loved one's hand in doctor's office waiting for an HIV/STD test because of an assault, or the police calling your home after a loved one was found drugged, cut and unconscious on the side of the road. 

Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victim still has to sit in a court room and relive their experience over and over again in front of people.  Many true victims never even pursue the rapist because of the process to convict itself. 

Hate on me for being a gun owner, but the above scenario will never be me or a loved one of mine.  If an attempt to rape is made, the victim has no way of knowing if the rapist has AIDS.  So yes, the victim's life is threatened in this scenario. 

Don't misunderstand, if someone I loved or myself did become a victim, I would not go looking for street vengeance but I would use lethal force for prevention.

not going to hate on you for being a gun owner, in fact, I fully believe in conceal carry for the purpose of self-defense.  I just don't believe in going after someone for the sake of vengeance.

[DoomRulz]

Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victim still has to sit in a court room and relive their experience over and over again in front of people.  Many true victims never even pursue the rapist because of the process to convict itself. 

That's part of the process, like it or not. As much as some ideologues love spinning this into a form of "victim blaming", there needs to be a testimony to ensure the story is straight. It works the same way for any other crime.

[AliceApocalypse]

Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victim still has to sit in a court room and relive their experience over and over again in front of people.  Many true victims never even pursue the rapist because of the process to convict itself. 

That's part of the process, like it or not. As much as some ideologues love spinning this into a form of "victim blaming", there needs to be a testimony to ensure the story is straight. It works the same way for any other crime.

I understand the importance of due process, there is no easy solution to this scenario.  It's just a harsh reality.

However, I do think we should pay more attention to how exposed we are online.  The pictures we take, the announcements of our locations, etc.  Parents talking to their kids about how dangerous it really is.

It won't stop the violent criminal, but being street smart might help limit some from harms way.  I'm guilty of it, and I need to pay more attention as well.

[Cvalda]

That all seems like an extremely paranoid worldview to have, and that's coming from someone who's been sexually assaulted twice. Yes, it's a shitty, rapey world we live in, but carrying around guns all the time isn't going to change that.

[DoomRulz]

Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victim still has to sit in a court room and relive their experience over and over again in front of people.  Many true victims never even pursue the rapist because of the process to convict itself. 

That's part of the process, like it or not. As much as some ideologues love spinning this into a form of "victim blaming", there needs to be a testimony to ensure the story is straight. It works the same way for any other crime.

I understand the importance of due process, there is no easy solution to this scenario.  It's just a harsh reality.

However, I do think we should pay more attention to how exposed we are online.  The pictures we take, the announcements of our locations, etc.  Parents talking to their kids about how dangerous it really is.

It won't stop the violent criminal, but being street smart might help limit some from harms way.  I'm guilty of it, and I need to pay more attention as well.

Yup, common sense is indeed the best answer.

...despite what some people may think.

[AliceApocalypse]

That all seems like an extremely paranoid worldview to have, and that's coming from someone who's been sexually assaulted twice. Yes, it's a shitty, rapey world we live in, but carrying around guns all the time isn't going to change that.

[Kimarhi]

Cvalda has obviously never carried the power of life and death in her hands.

[BANE]

Cvalda has obviously never carried the power of life and death in her hands.

Oh give me a break you could kill someone with a rock.

[Kimarhi]

I can kill somebody with my fist.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

Ah, false rape and pro-guns...