Observer-Reporter forum

freethinker · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:12 am Post subject:

when you elevate the "essence" of law
above the individual in front of you, you
are setting yourself in a very powerful
position. Pursuing your own personal
idea of justice allows you the ethical
mobility to create and then enforce "laws"
of your own choosing. That is tyranny.
Please don't turn our system of justice
into a tool for vengeance...
Polanski is a no-talent hack. A rat-faced
beady-eyed pillow-biting piece of junk.
And his name will always be connected
to manson, kiddie-rapist, and france.
Let us rise above, and forget this fool.
American jurisprudence is better than this.
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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

Chinatown is the best movie ever.
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Amphikalein · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

Some sentence is warranted for thumbing his nose at the justice system however unjust the original sentence was. The original sentence undeniably appears to have been excessive - but the way to correct that injustice was to fight it here through the appellate system. That's why we HAVE appellate courts.
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freethinker · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:30 am Post subject:

No matter how proud you are of the American justice "system",
it is still not a "crime" to insult it. And thank heavens for that.
Please save our precious court time for serious criminals....
Polanski is a hair-ball who will be quickly forgotten...
Unless you give him fifteen more minutes...
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where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

Amphikalein · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:35 am Post subject:

Of course it isn't (nor should be) a crime to "insult" our justice system. But when subject to it, fleeing to a country without extradition in order to avoid serving a sentence - isn't that a crime?
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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

"May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

Actually, I don't know. I was under the impression that being a fugitive from the law wasn't a crime, just a status of being wanted for a crime and remaining at large.
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SSSS · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:38 am Post subject:

No Fugative from Justice is a separate charge. You can actually be found innocent opf the original charge and guilty of the Fugative charge.
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ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

Part of me wants to say "Hey, if you flee and get away and find some place safe, more power to you... but don't expect to get let off the hook if you get caught."

There is a strong urge of self-preservation... and only having one life, I'd expect people to try really hard to not spend it in jail.

I am not sure how I feel, on a logical level... but part of me wants to say that "escape" from prison shouldn't be considered a crime... We put you in jail and it's our job to keep you there. If you get out, it's because we (the state) didn't do an adequate job of "imprisoning" you... if it is up to the inmate to willfully be imprisoned, then what is the use of prisons? Put him in a room anywhere, station a guard in the hallway, and tell him not to leave that room. Of course, that wouldn't work at all... so we have big, impenetrable prisons... yet we still expect the inmate to willingly stay put.

If you are serving a 10 year sentence... and you break out and go on the lamb for two days and get caught... add two days to the sentence Smile

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Amphikalein · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:42 am Post subject:

i'm obviously no lawyer, so i don't know. But if one flees like Polanski did, don't you become subject to extradition when traveling outside the sanctuary country? That seems to me to be tacitly placing yourself once again subject to the standing sentence. Isn't that exactly what has occurred here?

i can't help but wonder if he'd have had a better chance at reducing the original sentence (or maybe overturning the conviction) if he hadn't chosen to flee and tried to deal with it through appeal.
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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

"May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

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dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

Simply put he is a perv!

Brant · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:44 am Post subject:

Polanski WASN’T sentenced. He ran before the sentencing. The easy answer here is for the U.S. authorities and Polanski to agree to a nominal sentence - even if it's just a few months, considering all the circumstances - and settle this once and for all.
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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

He would have spent however many years in jail waiting for said appeal. And considering the original sentence, he probably didn't have a lot of faith in the system treating him fairly.
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Brant · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:47 am Post subject:

If the misconduct was as egregious and obvious as his supporters claim it was, I don't think it would have taken that long for a top attorney – and Polanski certainly could afford the best representation – to get the sentence tossed out.
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The priests of the different religious sects dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight.

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ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

Honestly, if he gets a "nominal" sentence... can you say that his fleeing was the "wrong" thing to do?

He's lived 30 years in france, won an oscar, and basically hasn't been in jail for 3 decades... and now, he may or may not spend SOME time in jail as an old man... seems like he won the game
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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

I reread the facts. Polanski plead guilty as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time. After accepting the deal and his plea, the judge then decided to sentence him to jail anyway. The sentencing never actually happened; Polanski fled before that hearing.
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