Arizona Judge Teaches Sexual Assault Victim
You shouldn't have been there [at the bar]
posted about 12 years ago
Now I'm sure we've all heard about Arizona in the papers lately, and usually I'm remiss to posting material up here, because honestly, how much of the UMBC population actually cares? Anyways, with all the quality ideas coming out of Arizona like requiring people to have citizenship papers on their person at all times, or a local sheriff declaring that they have evidence the President is foreign born, this kind of stuff seems to fit the current state of affairs there.
I am paraphrasing here so check out the links below for the full story and all the details. Last summer, a drunk Arizona police officer, Robb Gary Evans, made his way into a bar, walked behind a woman, put his hand up her skirt, and ran his fingers over her genitals. This is full on sexual assault. This is the type of thing that will get you branded and shunned, listed on the national sex offender list, the whole nine yards. This is atrocious behavior. He was convicted by a jury, later that summer.
This wednesday, Judge Jacqueline Hatch, appointed by Gov. Jen Brewer (R - AZ) sentenced him to probation and 100 hours of community service. He does not have to register on the sex offenders list. She also had some choice words to say to the victim:
"Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.
“If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you,” Hatch said.
Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.
“I hope you look at what you’ve been through and try to take something positive out of it,” Hatch said to the victim in court. “You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability.”
Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change,” Hatch said that her mother used to say.
This boggles the mind. Not only did she give the man a limp wrist slap for his felony, but she had the audacity to tell the victim that she shouldn't have been at a public bar in the first place. Valuable lesson about friendship, vulnerability, and the power to change? What friendship did she misjudge when minding her own business before getting groped on her genitals? Are public bars some sort of shady underworld where sexual assault should be expected and guarded against? Power to change what? Herself? The criminal? None of it makes sense and proves offensive not only to the victim, but women everywhere. My brain hurts just trying to follow her logic.
She seems to imply that the victim should not have been there or should have done something besides minding her own business. One begins to question whether the judge would have had the same mentality if she was the victim in this scenario. Essentially her comments boil down to, "You shouldn't have been at the bar." and "You should have known better".
"Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims."
You're not to blame, but it's your responsibility to make sure you don't get molested. Excellent idea, lets offload the responsibility of not being sexually assaulted onto the victim, and leave the actual offenders be.
Lets take a look at what some of Officer Evans' colleagues had to say:
"These people put their lives on the line every day," Evan's former partner said. "I hope you'll be lenient on him. To me, this is one way we can give a little back to those in law enforcement who give so much to us everyday."
Others also asked for leniency.
"I don't necessarily agree with the way this case got to be here," former Flagstaff Police Lt. Randy Weems told the judge.
Weems was recently a candidate for Flagstaff chief of police.
"This is the second time in 25 years that I feel the system didn't work," he later added.
Evans' defense attorney, Bruce Griffen, picked up on that same line of argument, referring to it as a "very disputed case."
"Sometimes, the bigger you are, the harder you fall in this line of work," he said.
Now I can appreciate police officers, a lot of them get a bad rap because with any profession, there are a bad apples. I recognize the fact that they are public servants that put their well being on the line to protect our own, and I respect that. Asking for leniency for a convicted sexual assault felon because it is a "small" way of giving back to police officers, is offensive. (do you see a pattern here?) Not to mention the fact that it stains the honorable people who do work in the police force, whose character should not be categorized in the same ballpark as this felon.
Then there's the comment that the bigger you are, the harder you fall. Just... what? I don't know where to begin, that police officers should be considered "bigger" than the rest of us (they are public servants), or that this guy is "falling hard" for his felony? So, I present this to you myUMBC. For you to see, for you to digest. Do you agree with the Judge's remarks to the victim? Do you agree with the sentencing? Do you even agree with the conviction? What is your overall reaction to this piece of news?
[1] http://azdailysun.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_0aa8be56-f7a3-11e1-b804-0019bb2963f4.html
[3] http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Groping-victim-wants-apology-for-judge-s-comments-3847367.php
(edited about 12 years ago)
