there may not be any definitive evidence of rape other than the testimony of the victim

Can’t wait for his college lecture series: “guys, it’s not worth it. If you’re going to rape an unconscious girl, make sure you take her into a room with a good solid lock on it. Out back next to the dumpster is JUST TOO RISKY. Even if you can swim real fast.”

I love to scroll down to the comments and feel vindication when I read one of these rambling articles and start to panic that maybe I have zero reading comprehension skills.

They didn’t “make” it an option. It’s the law - when giving a life sentence you *have* to give a minimum sentence, that’s how it works. The judges can’t just make it up as they go along, and change the rules when the feel like it.

Sadly, the Nietzsche quote about ““he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster” applies here.

This seems like a terrific idea to gain attention.

Tina, I don’t know how long you’ve been Gawkering around but I am a veteran of almost—GOD I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS—a decade and in the olden days of Gawk and Jez the commenters used to routinely eviscerate the writers in the comments.

“Severe impact” = “he’s rich and white and we don’t normally send people like that to prison”

It really is one of the most eloquent victim impact statements I’ve ever read.

What else did they want? He attacked her outside, there were witnesses, he was caught in the act, the evidence was 100% irrefutable. But still, a slap on the wrist, he gets to blame those drunk slutty sluts, and the judge is worried about how tough prison would be for him.

If you and Jezebel could do a version of The Counted for women killed by male partners for one year, it would be horrible and wonderful at the same time. Male America doesn’t care.

Yes, it’s an outrageous statement. He hasn’t admitted any culpability therefore it’s easy to conclude that he WOULD do it again as he doesn’t see that he did anything wrong. He is most definitely a danger to society and likely to re-offend. This judge is as bad as the rapist.

Yep. That quote from the judge -

The thing is, they didn’t even HAVE to listen to women. There were two men that saved her, chased him off, and acted as eyewitnesses to his crime, but his welfare is still prioritized before hers. And arguably, before the welfare of his next potential victim.

You can police every aspect of your speech, you can wear the right things, you can get all the degrees and expertise, you can write the most fucking eloquent and heartbreaking courtroom statement and still there are men who will not hear you because they just don’t listen to women.

Please do this every week.

It’s really aggravating that Sierra Blanca has gotten virtually no press this entire campaign season. That alone demonstrates that the Clinton campaign has been treating Sanders with kid gloves. Anyone else would have been hammering him on that and Burlington College.

Unless it’s burying nuclear waste. Then he is all NIMBY, and doesn’t give a damn about the poor.

And this is exactly why his wild spending bothers me so much. He spent $46 million in March alone. And he used campaign donations to fund a wildly extravagant trip to Rome, bringing along his entire family and an entourage of about 50 people on a chartered jet. (Cost estimates around $500,000.) And paying Tad Devine…