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The Spectacle Blog
I suppose we should keep the plight of Roman Polanski in perspective. There are worse things than being a child rapist. Like a child murderer. And Roman Polanski is not, to our knowledge, a child murderer.
But he is a child rapist. Which appears to be is fine in Europe. After all, he is a great artist. And what do great artists do, but rape children, apparently?
Washington Post Eugene Robinson captures nicely the Swiss decision not to extradite Polanski to the U.S. to answer for his crime of 33 years ago:
For Roman Polanski, the long, unspeakable nightmare of being confined to his three-story chalet in Gstaad, the luxury resort in the Swiss Alps, is finally over. The fugitive director is free once again to stroll into town, have a nice meal, maybe do a little shopping at the local Cartier, Hermes or Louis Vuitton boutiques.
Or he could just scurry like a rat into France or Poland, the two countries where he has citizenship — and where authorities have a long history of acting as if Polanski’s celebrity and talent somehow negate his sexual brutalization of a 13-year-old girl.
I’m betting on the rodent option, even though Swiss authorities are doing their best to convince Polanski that he can relax and enjoy the fondue without ever having to answer for his crimes. After all, they did force him to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for several whole months. The horror. The horror. After authorities announced Monday that they were denying the U.S. request to have Polanski extradited, one of the famed auteur’s lawyers called the decision “an enormous satisfaction and a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family.” That statement should stand as the definitive textbook example of unmitigated gall.
The U.S. government should continue its pursuit. He ultimately may escape, as he has done for 33 long years. But he should at least live in the fear that a visit to the wrong country might land him in the American jail where he belongs.
And requesting extradition forces his protectors to go on the record defending a child rapist. Maybe a few of them will have a slightly harder time sleeping at night. It’s the least we can do for the woman who has spent the last 33 years living with what Polanski did: lured a 13-year-old to a friend’s home, filled her with drugs and alcohol, and then sexually assaulted her .
View all comments (16) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Doug Bandow
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/07/13/roman-polanski-only-a-child-ra
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John W.| 7.13.10 @ 9:18AM
From swissinfo.ch:
“Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf…
…said the decision had been taken following Washington’s refusal to give access to confidential documents.
“In these circumstances it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty that Roman Polanski had already served the sentence to which he was condemned at the time," Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in the capital, Bern, on Monday.
She added that Switzerland had also decided against extradition because Polanski had been coming to the country in good faith for years.
Switzerland had sought access to the records of a hearing by a Los Angeles public prosecutor, Roger Gunson, who was in charge of the case in the 1970s.
Polanski, who had pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse at the time, claimed he feared that a judge might put him in jail for 50 years in violation of a plea bargain.”
Let's not kick the Swiss for following their own laws. I guess the Holder DoJ was to occupied finding excuses to avoid prosecution of criminal activity, and manufaturing pretexts for waging lawfafre on the rest of us tyo give the Swiss the information they requested.
Alan Brooks| 7.13.10 @ 12:38PM
Don't get it:
are you writing that having sex with kids is acceptable, but not raping them?
It was not made entirely clear.
Alan Brooks| 7.13.10 @ 12:45PM
Reason I quibble here is you include the insipid
"He ultimately may escape, as he has done for 33 long years."
With his connections?? of course he will escape; Pull is everything in Lawyersville. But it is okay: we are all very critical here, except with our own thinking.
C'mon! he MAY escape, Doug? just change one word-- he WILL escape.
Missy| 7.13.10 @ 4:38PM
Polanski the child-rapist is a liberal like you, Alan.
Nice company you keep.
John W.| 7.13.10 @ 9:20AM
Edit button, please.
uncle curmudgeon| 7.13.10 @ 9:49AM
Polanski and his apologists could stand as perfect models for the majority of Americans who don't know what a "Progressive" is.
Eric Cartman| 7.13.10 @ 10:51AM
BINGO! And where are the feminazis? Where is NOW? NARAL? The Feminist Majority Foundation? International Alliance of Women? International Women's Democracy Center? The Girl Scouts? Anyone? (chirp, chirp, chirp). Well, no one's there. Guess the girl deserved it. She probably isn't a liberal.
Purple Lips| 7.13.10 @ 9:59AM
This issue has more to do with diplomacy than it does with justice. The Obama Administration on a number of occaisons has taken pot shots at Swiss financial companies. The Swiss have a long tradition of banking, and global finance. In particular, the Obama Justice Department and Senator Dodd have put enormous pressure on Swiss banking giant UBS to disclose the identities of American account holders. The Polanksi debacle is pay-back. In normal times, Polanksi's head would have been served to the LA DA on a platter.
PCC| 7.13.10 @ 10:03AM
"The U.S. government should continue its pursuit."
The U.S. government should pursue this monster to the ends of the earth.
Sheryl| 7.13.10 @ 12:22PM
Oh, well, as the noted feminist and legal scholar Whoopi Goldberg pointed out, he didn't really "rape rape" her. So, I guess he gets a free pass on just the single rape. Or something.
David S| 7.13.10 @ 3:19PM
I think the Swiss judge sums it up pretty well:
"it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty that Roman Polanski had already served the sentence to which he was condemned at the time"
For some reason this point is lost on some people. Double jeopardy, anyone?
There are bigger fish to try.
DS
Missy| 7.13.10 @ 4:40PM
Double jeopardy? The pervert was never tried for his crime, moron.
Leave it to an amoral liberal to rationalize and excuse child rape and sodomy. Shame on you.
David S| 7.13.10 @ 5:45PM
According to the Swiss court, it's not clear whether Polanski served his sentence or not. A plea bargain is a substitute for a full trial.
In the absence of convincing evidence to the contrary, Polanski is entitled to the same rights as any other person - he can't be further punished over a crime for which he had already served his sentence under the plea agreement.
Imposing an additional sentence after the initial term has been served is a form of double jeopardy.
This case is more about the misconduct of the State at this point - and I suppose we can leave it to conservatives to rationalize and excuse misconduct on the part of the government.
I'm not defending Polanski's acts - just his right to the same fair and impartial administration of justice we are all entitled to. I'm not ashamed to be an advocate for justice, despite attempts to conflate this with rationalizing or excusing child rape.
Also, you'd be more convincing if you didn't resort to ad hominem attacks without understanding who and what you are attacking.
Missy| 7.13.10 @ 8:45PM
Polanski fled our country! Do you think he ran away because he served his sentence? You don't make any sense, and you're hiding behind the pandering of the Swiss Court to pretend you don't support Polanski.
Typical liberal: Defend the most hideous criminals among us with absolute no sympathy for the victim. What about the JUSTICE she's entitled to? Guess you don't care about the 13 year old rape victim, just the rich, liberal, perverted adult. Nice work.
Wonder if she were YOUR daughter?
ewwww| 1.30.11 @ 11:09AM
Whatever. Polanski is and forever will be a rapist. Allen stood up for him. Rapists sticking up for rapists. Disgusting.