For John, BLUF: Just because it is OK in your culture doesn't mean it is OK in mine. Nothing to see here; just move along.
Yesterday, writing in his own blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, Law Professor Eugene Volokh talked about culture as an excuse.
This is from The Daily Mail, and it is about the UK:
A muslim who raped [in the sense of statutory rape -EV] a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook has been spared a prison sentence after a judge heard he went to an Islamic faith school where he was taught that women are worthless.At some point Mr Rashid told psychologists "women are no more worthy than a lollipop that has been dropped on the ground".Adil Rashid, 18, claimed he was not aware that it was illegal for him to have sex with the girl because his education left him ignorant of British law.
Unless it is your daughter or granddaughter, or mine.
This is cultural relativism run amok. What happened to "ignorance of the law is no excuse"? Is a 13 year old girl who is raped (even if it is statutory rape) not harmed and does not society have a responsibility to say to everyone that it is not acceptable to commit this crime? I don't care if she did "consent" to intercourse. He took advantage of her and it was wrong.
This young man should have been made an example of, pour encourager les autres.♠
Regards — Cliff
♠ For the encouragement of the others, referring to the execution of Admiral John Byng. The author was Voltaire and the work Candide.
1 comment:
Crime can be excused in a number of ways because of the larger "culture." While this was supposedly prosecuted under British law (there is a version that it took place in Saudi Arabia....but who can trust the media to get anything right), it was just one more case of presenting the right answers.
We here in America have lots of dirt dripping off of our fingers because of "culture." Most notably, we have the most obscene culture imaginable in the form of the Federal Government Elite culture. Name one person who has gone to jail or even been reprimanded for Fast and Furious....or the latest version of the same crime...or Benghazi which was little more than gun running? Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd walk free today in spite of participating peripherally in one of the largest and largely unpunished frauds in modern American history.
We let all sorts of criminals go free for doing what criminals do.....if only because they are accorded special status because of their status. Menendez is a kiddie diddler.....and he is still in the US Senate..most likely because there are many dark tales to be told about that "august" bunch.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not excusing what this piece of human garbage did to that little girl. I would personally not even wasted the time on a trial. But we have to play the game even if it destroys the victim in the process. I would not waste time either on Wall Street trials, particularly that of the biggest WS scoundrel of all, our precious little Secretary of the Treasury...who was as inside the deal as you can get. I'd put Holder in stocks on the Capitol steps and let him rot there.
But.....hey...in America my view is the smallest minority...and in this instance...there ARE no minority rights. You are only guilty if you get caught in the act.....and then only if you don't have a good lawyer.
BTW...THAT is what is meant by the "rule of law." A really good lawyer who "knows" the law.
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