Underage Sexual Assault Victim Faces Jail Time...For Tweeting the Names of Her Attackers (UPDATED)

ReinWeisserRitter

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Nov 15, 2011
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One of the many times the law should be seen as a guideline, not a cast-iron standard that must be followed at all costs. Sometimes doing the right thing is just more important; she has every right to be upset. When we uphold the law at the expense of all else, we lose what it exists to protect in the first place.
 

Bobsonnn

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Jul 12, 2009
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I think going out and bragging about it means they should waive any right to anonymity they had. And they should obviously rot in jail anyway.
 

CrazyCapnMorgan

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Jan 5, 2011
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HardkorSB said:
CrazyCapnMorgan said:
Title pretty much says it all.

In the face of all the other threads that have come and gone recently, I had to add another one. Not only because it strikes multiple issues at once, but because it also deals with ones we've mentioned seperately time and again.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/savannah-dietrich-twitter-sexual-assault-louisville-174732753.html

At the meat of this issue, as stated in the article:

A Kentucky girl who was sexually assaulted could face contempt of court charges after she tweeted the names of her juvenile attackers.

Savannah Dietrich, the 17-year-old victim, was frustrated by a plea deal reached late last month by the two boys who assaulted her, and took to Twitter to expose them--violating a court order to keep their names confidential.

Attorneys for the attackers asked a Jefferson District Court judge to hold Dietrich in contempt for lashing out on Twitter. She could face up to 180 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted. The boys have yet to be sentenced for the August 2011 attack.

"So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys," Dietrich told Louisville's Courier-Journal. "I'm at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don't understand justice."

Dietrich was assaulted by the pair after passing out at a party. They later shared photos of the assault with friends.

On June 26, the boys pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism. Terms of their plea agreement were not released.

A hearing for the contempt of court charge is scheduled for July 30. Attorneys for Dietrich want it open to the media, while the boys lawyers want it closed.

Both the Gannett-owned Courier-Journal and Dietrich's attorneys "have filed motions to open the proceedings, arguing she has a First Amendment right to speak about what happened in her case," the newspaper said.

An online petition asking the judge to throw out the charges against Dietrich, launched Saturday, has already accumulated hundreds of signatures.
Part of me finds it sad to believe that this girl, who is a victim of a sexual assault, is going to see potentially more jail time than those who helped cover up sexual assaults, like those at Penn State. Furthermore, even as I pose to myself the scenario that the boys in this case might need protection from others, the fact that they took photos of the assault and distributed them amongst their friends makes me instantaneously lose any sympathy towards their protection.

Your thoughts?
OK but imagine this:
Some superhero Texas Ranger wannabe sees their names, looks up their addresses, goes there and just flat out shoots them.
Or an angry mob gangs up on them and beats them to death or hangs them.
It could happen and if it would, wouldn't the girl be partially responsible for that?

Plus, the case was closed, The verdict reached. She can appeal or something but telling everyone "Here they are, get them for me" (which is what she did by posting their names) is fucked up.
If the boys didn't do something incredibly stupid at a party when they see a cute teenage girl passed out...would we even be having this discussion in the first place?

My opinion: Don't wanna be known for doing something stupid? Don't do it. And especially don't take pictures of the ordeal, share it with friends and not expect something bad to happen because of it.

Taking advantage of someone when they are at their most vulnerable is dispicable at best and demonic at worst. Those boys do not get any sympathy from me.

If the girl receives any jail time, I will consider it to be a tremendous failure on the part of the justice system. Fines and/or other reprimands, to me, are acceptable in this case.
 

Easton Dark

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Jan 2, 2011
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She did break a court order... but come on, anonymity?

People who commit those top tier crimes, even at a young age, you know, near deadly assault, murder, sexual assault/abuse, kidnapping, shouldn't be able to hide the fact they did that.
 

TallanKhan

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Ok yes she did break the law as it stands but i think this highlights a real problem. Any kind of anonymity for somone who has been found guilty of a crime is morally unjustifiable. Particularly in this kind of case where they have sexually assulted someone, if these boys were adults their faces would be in every paper and they would spend years of their life having to put posters of themselves up wherever they moved to in order to warn the local residents. And when these boys do get out of prison they will be just as dangerous as any adult sex offender who is released from jail - they may well be adults.

Also has anyone really considered the effect keeping this kind of judgement secret could have on the victim. The conviction of the guilty party in such a crime is a huge moment for the victim in terms of them achiving some kind of closure. How must it feel for that to all take place behind closed doors? To be told that the court acknowledges what was done to you and agrees you were wronged but that you must never talk about it like its some kind of guilty secret? I know how I'd feel.
 

Kahunaburger

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May 6, 2011
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They don't want to be known as sex offenders? Maybe they should have thought of that before they committed sexual assualt.

Excellent news:

QuantumT said:
FWIW, the contempt motion has been withdrawn, so it's somewhat of a moot point now:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120723/NEWS01/307230081/Contempt-motion-withdrawn-sexual-assault-victim-Savannah-Dietrich-who-tweeted-attackers-names%22
 

Godisdigestingyou

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Mar 17, 2012
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I find it interesting that there are so many people saying that the girl should be punished for breaking the law, but no one seems to want to touch on the subject that she is apparently okay with going to jail for what she did, if only to ensure that her attackers get what she believes they deserve.

I don't care what you do. If your willing to give up your freedom for it, it bears further scrutiny than "such a tragedy, but thems the breaks."

I know my life would be a lot different now if 60 years ago people were afraid to go to jail for doing what they thought was right.
 

wintercoat

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Mortai Gravesend said:
Father Time said:
Mortai Gravesend said:
Father Time said:
Mortai Gravesend said:
Father Time said:
Tekkawarrior said:
I don't see a problem with them being named. If more people were named for their actions then people would stop doing dumb shit.

Oh no their life is ruined and they'll never get a job. Well fuck em I say they should have thought about that before sexually harassing someone.

ZephrC said:
I disagree with you there friend. Some people like having a control on sex, just because you don't it doesn't mean it's wrong.
Yes let's make it harder for these people to earn a living thus making them more likely to commit a crime.
It's funny how much pity to have for the rapists but not the victim when she does something back.
Yeah I actually care about preventing crime instead of revenge, what is wrong with me. And this naming thing applies to every crime bud

And she violated a court order, that's a crime.
Yeah, because you only care about properly punishing the rape victim who retaliates, that's totally about preventing crime!

You pity the poor victims of the crime of being named for their crime, but no pity for the victim of rape.
Are you having fun screaming at your straw man? You sure do spend a lot of time building it.

I never said they should go unpunished. And you seem to be implying that because she was assaulted she should get away with anything. Sorry that doesn't change that she committed a crime.
What strawman? I never said that you called for them to go unpunished. Pretty stupid to accuse me of a strawman by accusing me of saying something I didn't. Furthermore going on to babble about me saying she should be able to get away with anything.

Maybe you can have the guts to reply to what I actually said next time?
This strawman:

Yeah, because you only care about properly punishing the rape victim who retaliates, that's totally about preventing crime!
Twisting a person's position into something different and then attacking that instead is still the definition of a strawman, yes?
 

Kermi

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Nov 7, 2007
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If she had tweeted their names in between the attack and the arrest I'd say the court was out of line, but she was under a court order not to disclose their names. I'm sorry she was sexually assaulted, but that doesn't mean she can disregard the order on her.