It would be excessive, which is why it’s not going to happen. The life end is for things like, I don’t know, the perpetrator had a history of convictions, beat the victim to within an inch of her life in the process of sexually assaulting her, and she was also his minor child. Those are all the kinds of things that add points that equate to more prison time.
You think that putting a finger in someone’s vagina is exactly as bad as murdering this person?
He made someone’s Spirit Airlines experience even worse than it would have otherwise been. Lock him up for a good long time.
Almost tempted to agree that life is right just for being that stupid, but I do think life would be excessive.
I think 10 years.
I’m good with life in prison for sexual assault.
IANAL, but if memory serves it’s only in death penalty cases that the jury has any say in the sentencing phase, either life in prison or death, on which it deliberates in a separate penalty phase after the defendant has been convicted of a capital crime. In trials for lesser offenses, sentencing is up to the judge, who himself/herself may be constrained by statute (e.g. mandatory minimums, diversion to addiction treatment rather than jail for possession, etc.)
IIRC juries in civil cases have a lot more leeway and, if finding for the plaintiff, can award a greater or lesser sum than the amount originally stated by the plaintiff.
Like I said, IANAL so please set me straight if this is incorrect.
Not going to disagree with that either - stupid law. But… if it is a law on the books you are stupid for breaking it.
You mean they get off the plane a couple of hours before it lands?
The doctor in Houston should have got 15 to life.
Serious questions I just don’t get. Did rape-guy think for a minute that he’d get away with what he was doing? Did he think his victim would enjoy It? Did he believe he could deny doing anything?
Not that I can read minds, but I get the distinct impression that gropey guys expect to be able to get away with such things without consequence. I don’t get the impression that they expect the victim to enjoy anything about the experience - though they might expect them to keep quiet anyway, for one imagined reason or another.
Sexual harassment and assault of women in public places is rampant in some parts of India, where it is colloquially known as “Eve-teasing” for who knows what reason.
I would bet that he thought he would get away with it this time because he had gotten away with it before.
Sexual assault is humiliating in a way non-sexual assault is not, even before the victim shaming starts. This is why I argue we should stop treating sexual assault as ‘a fate worse than death’ for women and impossible for men. A little sunshine can burn off a lot of humiliation.
Even if one gets past the humiliation, one has to be prepared for the accusations one somehow ‘asked for it’. Did you notice how the victim was accused of initiating contact?
Oh, I get that there are real legitimate reasons why victims don’t step forward (usually based on people being assholes). I really intended to say that the rapist has his own ideas about why his victims won’t tattle on him, which aren’t necessarily related to anything the victim might think. My word choice was just poor.
I’ve been binge watching The Amazing Race lately. Twice in the first 5 or 6 seasons they’ve had teams travel by crowded train in India. Every female contestant was groped the entire trip whether she was paired with a male or not. It was gut wrenching the first time, I was shocked the producers choose an Indian train again.
…I’m sure you would agree with me then that its stupid to put people away in jail for the rest of their lives as a result of a stupid decision. Not for murder. Not for rape. Not for assault. But for being “stupid.”
I’m not entirely sure of your point. I’m never going to agree with you. The laws as they stand are most likely to affect those that are poor, those that make poor life decisions, those that are marginalised, those that you have chosen to characterize as “stupid decision makers.”
We are talking things like getting life-in-prison for selling “two crumpled bags of marijuana, worth $10 each.” Kevin Smith gets to make TV Shows about marijuana. He talks openly about lighting up just before his podcast. Yet Fate Vincent Winslow is left to rot in jail. He’s been there since 2008. And he is in there precisely because of the indifference of people like you. Because you think “he was stupid” for breaking a law on the books. 10 white jurors said Fate Vincent Winslow was guilty. The two black jurors voted not guilty. Which way would you have voted?
Right, my (poorly expressed) point was that the rapist might think the victim won’t talk because so many don’t.
Producers are fine w/ anything that creates outrage b/c they want TV people will watch. If Morton Downey Jr taught us nothing else, it’s that people will watch TV to be outraged.
There is a perception among many men in India, reinforced by Hollywood, that young white women are loose and sexually promiscuous. So he probably imagined she would enjoy it. He also probably believed she would keep quiet, as abused women in India often do.
If this had happened on an Indian train or bus, he would have earned a tight slap from the woman, or a public thrashing, depending on where in India. He might have been taken to police custody, but would be out on bail in no time. He misunderestimated how seriously sexual assault is taken in Western countries.
Updating this thread:
Good.