Do you have a pervasive developmental disorder (like Asperger’s Disorder)? Or do you have Acquired Empathic Deficiency Syndrome?
Did you watch the video? See, when others watch the video, they (largely) think “Holy Shit!” or some variant of that, and have some kind of affective response. You may have heard of such things. For some, they become tearful. Some may have a feeling in their stomach that is like when you feel sick. Some may feel tension in their chest, limbs or face. There are a host of other possible cognitive and affective reactions that people might experience.
So, when you come in with your “You know, I’m not entirely dispassionate to the assertion that this was somewhat unacceptable, but let’s go into a discussion of Texas law (even though I’m not a Texas lawyer)”, you need to understand that others are still coping with the unpleasant feelings that arose when they watched it. Your reaction might seem… insufficient. Lacking in some human qualities that one might expect.
[ol]
[li]The daughter knew to record the event, so obviously it’s happened at least more than once.[/li][li]The mother says it was part of a larger pattern of ongoing abuse.[/li][li]Calm, rational parents typically don’t start flogging their children while yelling abuse as some one-off, momentary lapse.[/li][li]He is not currently up for re-election.[/li][/ol]
Hide your head in the sand all you want, but this was clearly part of a larger pattern.
No. It is not. All over America, there are laws against child abuse. Parents CAN hit their children to discipline, but every single state has laws against hitting that goes beyond a certain point. Every rational person viewing that video recognizes that the judge’s behavior goes beyond normal physical discipline.
We know through interviews with her and with her mother that the abuse went on for years. And the judge has not denied that. Stop calling her a liar. And stop assuming that a 16-year-old girl “just happened” to be able to catch her otherwise good-parent father in the only act of violent abuse he’d ever committed.
You are wrong. This is not considered the norm.
Stop calling her a liar. She and her mother both have stated that the abuse was years-long, and the judge has not denied that. And it is HIGHLY unlikely that she was conveniently able to film the only example of violent abuse that ever occurred in that household.
You are, with these arguments that this is normal punishment.
This is in no way relevant to the situation, and in fact, Hillary (the girl in the video) has issued calls for people to stop harassing her father and get him help. Be that as it may, her or your continued love for abusers is irrelevant to the fact that abuse is morally wrong and illegal.
You really think this is a single mistake, that this video is the ONLY instance of violence in that household? That coincidentally the video just happened to catch a single example of an abusive punishment in an otherwise-normal household? That’s a bit naive, I feel. Or something.
There’s a poll going on right now in another forum in which most Dopers are saying that actually, shit like this NEVER happened in their families. Your assumptions of what constitutes a normal family environment appear, shall we say, biased based on your own background?
I think that a 16-year-old girl with a black belt stands an excellent chance against a grown man who’s physically disabled, especially if he’s got a serious condition. Or is that not what you meant?
Uh, this is a whoosh, right? Because I can’t find this Siegfried fellow on Google anywhere except this thread.
Is this a whoosh? 'cause I’m pretty sure they were making up a person who often nitpicked on irrelevant shit while avoiding discussing the bigger issues, the way Bricker always manages to in any discussion involving anything that might possibly in any way relate to the law.
I’m confused. You are allowed to cause your child unlimited amount of physical pain to discipline them, as long as there are no injuries? I can think of many, many ways a sadistic parent like this judge could torture someone that won’t leave lasting injuries. Maybe abuse laws need to be modified.
I have a problem with torturing children to produce desired behavior, call me nuts.
That’s not the vibe I got from your post. The vibe I got was “I’m just a regular guy, right ? I’M JUST A REGULAR GUY, RIGHT ?!** I’M NOT EVIL !! **slash tortured victim’s throat…am I ?”.
Which, to be fair, could of course stem from previous trauma. Still, you know, creepifying, watch that shit, maybe get help, that sort of thing. Bring on the dogpile. I’m not evil.
Right now the two ‘often’ categories are at nearly 30 per cent, with many Dopers not voting because they don’t want to call their parents ‘abusers’ and some voting ‘never’ while conceding it did happen a few times.
It may also be safe to say Dopers aren’t a proper sample of the greater US population.
I think there are two issues - the camp that thinks you should NEVER hit a child and the camp that thinks you can, but you need to do it correctly. Both camps agree what the judge did was abusive.
And ideas of what spanking versus abuse is will also vary - across cultures, religions, regions, educational backgrounds, and even races. The fact that I recognize that does not mean I excuse his actions. It means that right now I’m more level-headed than you.
You’re the one on here defending this shit, and don’t say you aren’t because everyone can plainly see you are.
Now, maybe this is dredging up some shit for you, and you aren’t in your right frame of mind, and if that’s the case, you need to turn off the computer and go to therapy. But if, as it seems to me, you just like defending the indefensible… well, actually, get off the computer and goto therapy anyway.
There will be no charges due to the statute of limitations. You’ll notice the police quite explicitly said they thought a crime had been committed but it’s just too late to prosecute.
Despite our learned counsel the police chief’s rationale doesn’t correspond to the legal opinions expressed herein.
Apparently the charge would have been injury to a child (despite her being over 14) but the statute of limitations has expired (which is five years from the offense rather than 10 years from her 18th birthday for injury to a child) The chief’s statements might still leave the door open for civil penalties and certainly won’t help his career as a family court judge.
I have to wonder if watching that video has made some of you go over the edge. Jumping all over anyone who doesn’t want the Judge’s balls on a plate. Offering to go kill someone. (that’s a really moral position) Deciding **Lynn **is somehow the nastiest person who ever lived. Changing the girl’s age from 16 to 15 and then to 14 to make this more horrible. Leaping all over **Bricker **when he tried to answer the question about what the law might be because **several people asked **that question. Deciding that Texas (and only Texas) is somehow the home of knuckle draggers and baby beaters. I have to wonder where all this bile came from. There is a whole lot more heat than light in here. Fighting ignorance indeed.
I’m not defending him. Since I’m so ‘blind’ and you’re so obviously smart and the expert here, mind to cite? Or are you going to just keep making things up?
I have stated again and again that what he did was abusive. I also stated again and again that this happens more than you realize. The guy needs help, not a machete to his neck. Hell, the whole family needs help. The article upthread about no charges being pressed said that she decided to release the video after an argument last week. So, I’m going to assume the family dynamics are a little wonky.
Many Dopers aren’t voting because they were spanked (the way normal people interpret the word) and don’t consider that “hitting” (the way the person who set up the poll defined it), and therefore RIGHTFULLY don’t consider that abuse. Others who are conceding “it” happened a few times are conceding physical punishment within normal parameters, not what was seen on the video.
You REALLY need to practice better reading comprehension skills.
That much is true, on many levels. Some of them are probably not the levels that you think, though.
I think there are more than two issues - one is that there are some people who are looking at what the judge did and saying “that’s abuse,” and others who are saying “that’s abuse, but so what?” (like you are), and still others who are saying “that’s not abuse” and others who are saying “that’s not abuse because the law says it’s not.”
None of these facts are relevant to the discussion, sparky.
I don’t know about other people, but by watching the video, I experienced a strong, visceral reaction. What bothers me is the idea that anyone could watch it, shrug their shoulders and possibly even speculate as to what role the girl played, as if that’s relevant.
Seriously, anyone who can watch that video dispassionately is fucked in the head.
