chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (04/20/84)
One could always make them public but not televised. Of course,
this would be treating the symptoms rather than the disease....
--
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci (301) 454-7690
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet: chris@umcp-cs ARPA: chris.umcp-cs@CSNet-Relayjudy@ism780.UUCP (04/26/84)
#R:decvax:-45000:ism780:18300001:000:398 ism780!judy Apr 24 15:43:00 1984 Actually, except for the 10 year old girl, this should be good for the kid. The men were convicted and sent to prison. If he were treated the same way instead of being pampered (as apparently the courts are doing) he might learn not to rape. We cannot censor news because of the crazies in society. We must discipline the crazies and teach them how to live in society. And that's my two cents.
jim@ism780.UUCP (04/26/84)
#R:decvax:-45000:ism780:18300002:000:622 ism780!jim Apr 25 10:34:00 1984 Prison is certainly not a place to learn not to rape. What I find disturbing about this is that people will make conclusions based on this incident, but never question the claim that this was "a good kid gone awry", with the implication that anyone who watches the trial, regardless of their character, might run out and commit rape. It seems clear to me that this child was taught to rape by the attitudes and behavior of his parents and others around him, and that, given that warpage, he saw the televised trial, in its "neutral" presentation, as a positive societal sanction. -- Jim Balter (decvax!yale-co!ima!jim)
rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (04/27/84)
<> > A 12-year-old Pawtucket (R.I.) boy described as a "good kid > gone awry" was arraigned yesterday on charges of sexually > assaulting a 10-year-old girl on a pool table. Authorities > said he apparently picked up the idea from watching televised > trials of six men in a barroom rape case. I'm having an awfully hard time figuring out how a 12-year-old gets the idea of committing a sexual assault from watching a trial. COME ON now - are we really supposed to take this seriously??? It might make a good ploy for a defense attorney; it might make a good ploy for a DA who wants to quash the idea of televised trials in a hurry. But it does not make good sense, especially taken in the light of the description of the boy as a "good kid gone awry" - which is a pretty sick characterization of a juvenile committing that sort of assault. -- ...Cerebus for dictator! Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303) 444-5710 x3086
drr@ihopa.UUCP (D. R. Rueckheim) (04/27/84)
You are assuming that going to jail for a crime would be
a way to stop the person from committing the same crime
again when they were released. I dont know where your
facts came from to support that idea. In my opinion jail
is a good place for the unexperienced criminal to find
out the "right" way to commit crimes. It also has the added
benefit that it makes the person resent society. I think that
tha average ex-con feels more that society was wrong for
putting them through the inconvenience of prison rather than
feeling that they deserved to be put there because they had
to pay for their actions.
I am not trying to say that the 12 year old should be slapped
on the hand, not allowed to watch TV for a day and sent to
bed without dinner. Its just that I dont like the idea that
there is a possibility that my taxes are paying for the
criminal education of another person that might not have
turned out to be an anit-social person.
NOTE: The above is my personal opinion. All flames will be
gladly accepted.
--
D. R. Rueckheim
..!ihnp4!ihopa!drr
AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il.