Rapist gets lighter sentence because of war stress
Michael Brown, a 27-year-old paratrooper from Oregon, beat and handcuffed a Nigerian woman, then raped her vaginally and anally, and left her to wander the streets naken in search of help. This crime carries a whopping big sentence of eight years in prison, but the Italian court cut it to five years and eight months because of "extenuating circumstances," referring to Brown's year of military service in Iraq.
If you like that, you'll really like this: Brown, who is in a U.S. military prison in Germany, will most likely never serve a day of the sentence because under Italian law, he may be allowed to return to the United States pending an appeal of his conviction. Part of the statement from the Italian judges:
The prolonged psychological stress to which the accused was subjected and the lowered importance he ended up giving to the life and wellbeing of those around him can only have influenced the committing of the crimes.
Well, yes. But--to use a favorite argument of the law-and-order types (of which I am a real, not a fake, conservative-type one)--many other soldiers were just as stressed and even more stressed but they did not rape and humiliate a Nigerian woman. And the Bush administration has gone out of its way to underestimate the resources needed to treat PTSD in returning soldiers. It has also gone out of its way to ignore the multiple sexual assaults and rapes committed by U.S. soldiers against other U.S. soldiers.
If you like that, you'll really like this: Brown, who is in a U.S. military prison in Germany, will most likely never serve a day of the sentence because under Italian law, he may be allowed to return to the United States pending an appeal of his conviction. Part of the statement from the Italian judges:
The prolonged psychological stress to which the accused was subjected and the lowered importance he ended up giving to the life and wellbeing of those around him can only have influenced the committing of the crimes.
Well, yes. But--to use a favorite argument of the law-and-order types (of which I am a real, not a fake, conservative-type one)--many other soldiers were just as stressed and even more stressed but they did not rape and humiliate a Nigerian woman. And the Bush administration has gone out of its way to underestimate the resources needed to treat PTSD in returning soldiers. It has also gone out of its way to ignore the multiple sexual assaults and rapes committed by U.S. soldiers against other U.S. soldiers.
posted by Diane at 7:59 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Well now, fair is fair. After all, a few rapists out there get light sentences merely because they are female. One in particular, who became pregnant as a result of her crime, was actually awarded monthly child support payments.
It's bad enough that nearly all women these days are perpetual victims. It's especially tiresome to hear women whine because *other* women were victimized.
By
Anonymous, at
11:15 PM
Isn't it strange that people who make outrageous, idiotic comments don't have the cajones to sign their names?
Amazing...
By
Anonymous, at
5:53 AM
Rape is rape. No one, not even a vet should be allowed to commit such a savage crime and then walk. He probably is sufferering from post traumatic stress, but he raped someone. A crime, by the way, that I find extremely violent. He should not be given special treatment.
By
zelda1, at
6:12 AM
Bob, Anonymous, in referring to a recent piece of legal outrage, was being ironic.
By
Diane, at
9:08 AM
Or maybe not.
By
Diane, at
7:28 PM
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