I used to have great faith in the American legal system.
This faith allowed me to support the death penalty for years with the firm belief that everyone on death row had had a fair trial, was guilty, and deserved to be there.
The final eye opener came when the former warden of San Quentin spoke of her opposition to the death penalty and outlined her reasons based on decades of first- hand experience with the corrections system.
It turns out that innocent people end up in jail all the time.
It also turns out that guilty people avoid jail time because of money, powerful connections or shoddy prosecution work.
The statute of limitations is supposed to protect the accused from being tried when eyewitness or physical evidence may have deteriorated.
Instead, it ends up giving rapists and child molesters a free pass if they can just lay low long enough.
It means that someone like Bill Cosby who was powerful and respected and beloved by millions could sexually assault 48 women and be all but assured of getting through life without a single criminal conviction.
Not only would young women have to go through the usual humiliating yet common occurrence of being put on display and asked invasive questions but they would have the added issue of trying to convince a jury that "America's dad" was a calculating sociopath.
Contrary to what some internet trolls would have us believe, the lack of a criminal conviction does not make Bill Cosby innocent, it merely makes him a fortunate predator who got off because time ran out.
I cannot fathom the depth of hatred one must have for womankind to ignore the testimony of four dozen individuals while saying, "we can't know" or "he was never found guilty."
My default position is to believe the victim.
I am able to maintain this position because I don't start out with the assumption that women are lying sluts who want to ruin men and take all their money.
Cosby will more than likely never have a criminal trial. I don't need him to go through this in order to believe his victims.
I support the women who have spoken out.
I grew up watching the Cosby Show and Fat Albert and I ate Jello Pudding Pops. I knew the man's public persona and admired him. However, you won't catch me appealing to the masses to remember the good times and not forget the legacy.
I detest this self-righteous asshole for lying to a generation of kids and telling a group of vulnerable teens to "pull their pants up" while he was busy slipping drugs in drinks and committing despicable acts against young women who trusted him.
I think it's time we start giving the victim's testimony a longer shelf life.
This faith allowed me to support the death penalty for years with the firm belief that everyone on death row had had a fair trial, was guilty, and deserved to be there.
The final eye opener came when the former warden of San Quentin spoke of her opposition to the death penalty and outlined her reasons based on decades of first- hand experience with the corrections system.
It turns out that innocent people end up in jail all the time.
It also turns out that guilty people avoid jail time because of money, powerful connections or shoddy prosecution work.
The statute of limitations is supposed to protect the accused from being tried when eyewitness or physical evidence may have deteriorated.
Instead, it ends up giving rapists and child molesters a free pass if they can just lay low long enough.
It means that someone like Bill Cosby who was powerful and respected and beloved by millions could sexually assault 48 women and be all but assured of getting through life without a single criminal conviction.
Not only would young women have to go through the usual humiliating yet common occurrence of being put on display and asked invasive questions but they would have the added issue of trying to convince a jury that "America's dad" was a calculating sociopath.
Contrary to what some internet trolls would have us believe, the lack of a criminal conviction does not make Bill Cosby innocent, it merely makes him a fortunate predator who got off because time ran out.
I cannot fathom the depth of hatred one must have for womankind to ignore the testimony of four dozen individuals while saying, "we can't know" or "he was never found guilty."
My default position is to believe the victim.
I am able to maintain this position because I don't start out with the assumption that women are lying sluts who want to ruin men and take all their money.
Cosby will more than likely never have a criminal trial. I don't need him to go through this in order to believe his victims.
I support the women who have spoken out.
I grew up watching the Cosby Show and Fat Albert and I ate Jello Pudding Pops. I knew the man's public persona and admired him. However, you won't catch me appealing to the masses to remember the good times and not forget the legacy.
I detest this self-righteous asshole for lying to a generation of kids and telling a group of vulnerable teens to "pull their pants up" while he was busy slipping drugs in drinks and committing despicable acts against young women who trusted him.
I think it's time we start giving the victim's testimony a longer shelf life.
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