May 7, 2007
Radley Balko looks at innocent people accused of rape who got off a lot less easy than the Duke lacrosse team.
Help Reason celebrate its next 40 years. Donate Now!
Try Reason's award-winning print edition today! Your first issue is FREE if you are not completely satisfied.
Let's be accurate off the bat, shall we?
"lower-income black woman" is PC code for "filthy lying
whore"
"affluent white men" is PC code for "decent, normal human
beings"
Once again, Radley Balko strikes a blow for what is right. I
have been a fan for a while and as one who has written for Reason
in the past, I am glad to see that the magazine has not wavered on
this vital issue.
In the end, we are speaking of matters of the heart. No matter how
many "safeguards" we might set up, if prosecutors and police are
determined, they will go around them. The issue ultimately is one
of integrity and the desire to do what is right, and all too often
such qualities do not add to being elected.
Thank you once again for this insightful article.
Tell Truth,
That was a great impersonation.
Who was it, joe or Dan T. or Juanita?
But is "Tell Truth" PC code for "ignorant hillbilly fuck who hopes the other klansmen don't catch him wanking to black porn," or for "irritating troll who can't contribute meaningfully to any conversation?"
The larger the justice system is the harder it is to do justice in any one case. The problem is that we have too many laws, too many criminals and too many cases to make sure that each case gets treated fairly. The sollution to that is figure out which laws are important to us and which laws are less important. If we could eliminate laws, like say the drug laws, we would have few criminal cases and be less likly to make a mistake in each individual case. The first step is to understand that you cannot do justice for an infinite number of criminal cases. The justice system has its limits.
oooh...black hillbilly porn! ohhhh!
so much better than inbred irish massive-two-shits porn
ooooh!
"Tell truth" obviously isn't joe.
It's not Juanita's style.
It's too "fly off the handle, hot-headed" for Dan T.
I think it's Jesse Walker's nemesis, Gun Widow, one of our least
interesting and least civil trolls.
(For the record, joe is not a troll, usually. Sometimes, though,
he's gets cranky.)
I don't why he bothers, now that the Urkobold is running free at Hit & Run. No troll could possibly exceed his ire and zealous wit.
Ditto to Bill Anderson's comment above. Good job Radley on keeping your eye on the ball and going deeper into a subject than other writers normally do. Your focus on real-world issues is refreshing in the context of the constant stream of non-event rhetorical BS that makes up most 'political' reporting. This is good journalism and you are a real asset to this paper.
In case you want to do anything about it, here's the link to the Innocence Project.
joe's just mad at me because I still want him, even after he rejected me for that white woman. I know in my heart that he prefers chocolate sausage. Oh, the lies he tells!
Tell Truth,
I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your
newsletter.
So, who's up for a review of libel law?
Seriously, "Tell Truth," you've crossed the line here. Cut it
out.
We'll worry about the geography thing later. Right now I'm more curious about how he concludes that I'm a Catholic priest.
Thoreau, as a New Englander I'm far more concerned by the
accusation that you live in my vicinity yet haven't come to visit
me even once.
Bastard.
Butters... is that you?
c'mon Butters.
destijl - good link to Innocence Prj! thanks!
Really? Okay, then, hands up anyone who knows one or more of the
following (no need for details, just indicate whether or not you
know):
Jennifer's real name
Her occupation
Her city or state
joe's full name
His occupation
His city or state
thoreau's full name
His occupation
His city or state
It's safe to say that things ain't real anonymous 'round these
parts.
Jake - pretty easy:
1)
Franklin Morris Friedlaender of Mendham, NJ
Occupation: financial planner
2)
Michael John Chilton of Upper Derby, PA
Occupation: Orthodontist
3)
Roger Maynard King of NYC
Occupation: Body shop foreman at Porsche dealership
The fact that any human being could consider sending an innocent
to jail "a badge of honor" is . . .
I'm speechless. Surely they are not human beings.
I remember the good old days when members ignored trolls and
they resorted to typing in all caps to get noticed.
I also remembered that the Middle-East's golden age came about
because of its advances in science, mathematics (aljabre turned
into algebra) and other higher callings. Which is why today it's
funny they say they will return to the golden age then turn around
and commit honor killings and other inanities.
And naturally it's America's fault, not sharia law holding back
islamic modernization and innovation. It's also the fault of that
one guy that made a cartoon.
Tell Truth's IP address has been banned, and his comments
deleted.
I don't do this often.
But there was nothing remotely appropriate about his comments in
this thread.
Dammit, Moose! You weren't supposed to expose them - just raise your hand... err... hoof.
Of course, with the troll comments gone people will think
I called Thoreau a pedophile cocksucker.
Damn.
Of course, with the troll comments gone people will think I
called Thoreau a pedophile cocksucker.
You were going to get around to it anyway, Jennifer.
It will be interesting to see if any commenters stop showing up now that the IP has been banned.
Nuts! I guess I missed TT going really overboard. He was a minor and thoreau came on to him? That's what I'm inferring. Totally unexpected.
[imagines a regular running out of someone else's office at
work]
"This isn't my office. Sorry, Samir. It's a case of the
Mondays."
Jennifer, I've been reading through this thread, and I can't
figure out why you're insulting thoreau so.
VM,
Ha, ha. But everyone knows that joe is David
Hasselhoff.
You were going to get around to it anyway,
Jennifer.
Yes, but not until I was good and ready, dammit.
Hey, now, we all I know I'm not Hasselhoff.
I'm Joe Boyle. Picture here.
http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/josephboyle/josephboyle.html
Tell Truth's IP address has been banned, and his comments
deleted.
Damnit! Now I don't know what the fuss was all about.
joe,
I'd always thought that you were
Peter Boyle, but he's dead and you're, um, not.
I thought joe was joe mama.
or
Some sort of a fish
boil.
Just goes to show what ya don't know!
I'm sorry I missed Tell Truth. It sounded like his might have been kind of entertaining, in a libelous moonbat kind of way.
It will be interesting to see if any commenters stop showing
up now that the IP has been banned.
No need for any suspense. At various times, "Tell Truth" posted as
"Albionite," "Lichtenberg," "Quibbler," "mllh," "Cain's Ability,"
and "Passim."
Stevo,
His words were harsh, yet they enlightened many. Truly, it is a sad
day for racist, trollish discourse. The Urkobold will not be
pleased with this unwarranted act of censorship.
Lichtenberg? I remember him. He's the "clear mountain" that VM was
dealing with.
Lichtenberg
hmmm, I thought Lichtenberg was a rather sane poster. Perhaps he is
off his meds.
Is 12 a big number? How many people has Dallas County jailed who
could be freed by DNA evidence?
12 false convictions out of 10 000 convictions is not so bad. Out
of 100 convictions it looks a lot worse.
hmmm, I thought Lichtenberg was a rather sane
poster.
Not to be confused with Fyodor, whose real name is Dave
Lichtenberg.
High#:
that could be out of the Gallery of Regrettable Food by Lileks,
hier
Herr Boyle:
obviously, from zat veb site, ve must be kardiovascularly
related...
VM,
Don't be fooled. Boyle is an Irish name, so any Viking heart or
hearts within this, ahem, gentleman were extracted from some dead
Dane. Or were diluted forms resulting from some Saxon violence,
rapine, and mayhem long ago.
The fact that any human being could consider sending an
innocent to jail "a badge of honor" is . . .
It's possibly the most sickening thing I've ever read.
TPG,
It's the kind of gallow's humor that rings true. After all, if
you're good enough to convict an innocent guy, you're one
hell of a prosecutor.
Move over, I think I'm getting ill, too.
"I remember the good old days when members ignored trolls and
they resorted to typing in all caps to get noticed."
I remember the good old days when "Troll" wasn't plastered on
anyone providing a non-reason-conformist perspective.
TIMMMMMYYYYYYY!
WRONG THREAD! THIS WAS A TROLL.
Urkobold SHOULD KNOW.
SAVE IT FOR WHEN joe GETS CALLED A TROLL.
IN THE MEANTIME, YOUR PUNISHMENT:
WAIT IN LINE AT THE DRIVERS' LICENSE FACILITY FOR Urkobold.
I for one am an advocate of totally open thread-borders, and no
limit to the range of vulgarity or bad-isms tolerated as free
speech.
Let the trolls come into the daylight, says i, where they can be
slain in plain view by General Consensus, who leads our crack Snark
Libertoid Commando Brigades into battle.
You can still get banned from H&R?
Wish I'd seen the comments the guy posted. No, not really.
Balko, you could, at least, give us a brief synopsis of this
Tell Truth's offending comments. Are this person's remarks to be
deleted from other threads as well? If so, it will sure screw up
the archives.
You know, from time to time I have read a number of remarks on
H&R that I thought really went beyond the limits of decency or
even civil discourse - hell, I've made some of them - but I always
figured that it came with the territory. I realize that this blog
belongs to the proprietors and that it is theirs to do with as they
see fit, but....damn it, since the age of fourteen I have had a
really, really hard time abiding someone deciding for me
what I can or cannot see, hear, read, or know - I don't like limits
placed on my mind. And by golly, I'm sure having a difficult time
now. About all you've really done is to make me curious about what
this person said. You make me want to go see what he or she said on
other threads under other pseudonyms.
jw,
It wasn't that TT comments were indecent. They were inappropriate,
unfounded personal attacks. You didn't really miss anything
interesting. It was like seeing a toddler throw a tantrum. Had that
tone continued and TT had behaved similarly on other threads, civil
discourse would have become very difficult.
That's how I feel about the matter. I can't speak for Balko and
Reason.
Thanks, highnumber. I did a site search for some of the other
names that he has posted under and apparently all his comments
have been deleted from H&R; sure messes up the sense
of other people's comments.
Say, you don't suppose he had anything to do with that virus/trojan
I kept picking up here in this morning's early hours, do you?
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245