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New York, 11:21 PM
Sat Nov 21
25 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/09/09
Mentally retarded or not, the guy obviously needs to be locked up somewhere and kept away from little kids. Clearly the support system he has now failed catastrophically.
07/09/09
I'm just not that up in arms about this particular case.
07/08/09
Unfortunately, neither is the person who did this to him. There is NO WAY a man with an IQ of FORTY-SEVEN...4-7...should be locked up for 100 years over this.
If I were the prosecutors, I would not be able to sleep at night. I do not see how they think that this was the WRONG thing to do in these circumstances.
07/08/09
07/08/09
\sarcasm
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07/08/09
In this case, although there is a victim, there is no perpetrator. This poor man had no malice, no urge to harm, and no awareness whatsoever of the wrongfulness of his actions. Period. I feel that he deserves no criminal punishment whatsoever.
But he clearly needs to be kept from doing this again. Hey society - any idea what to do about this class of defendant? 'Cuz I have no idea. But this ain't it.
07/09/09
I'm sure there are homes and stuff for this kind of person. But it said his family was very poor - they probably couldn't afford a nice facility. I'm sure that if they let him off with probation, his family would have spent every day for the rest of their lives watching him like a hawk.
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07/08/09
I actually am surprised to hear that people think it is impolite.
07/08/09
07/09/09
maybe@LolaQuinn: @sumerfish:
as much as it is a medical term the reality is that it has become socially unacceptable. retaining the name of a facility with that term seems in poor taste, given the unfortunate definition it has taken on.
maybe it's because i have disabled family members or maybe it's because i'm canadian and there's a certain culture up here for tip toeing around things with the goal of being politically correct, but i don't know anyone who believes it's acceptable.
07/09/09
Wikipedia covers the use of the term: [en.wikipedia.org]
07/10/09
the name of a facility and the terminology used within do not need to match. to many people retaining that name may be seen as offensive, that's all. perhaps to those in the field it is not, but i know others feel it's mildly inappropriate at best.
07/08/09
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07/08/09
Yeah- there is a huge bias.
07/08/09
07/08/09
Does 5 counts usually amount to 100 years?
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07/08/09
And oh my god we need to make a state law saying that those who are mentally unstable/challenged CANNOT have a moron PDA right out of law school but one of the more seasoned and experienced lawyers.
07/08/09
Florida, on the other hand...
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07/08/09
Oh, c'mon, I HAD to!
07/08/09
Fuck you California, go sink into the Pacific.
Fuck you Louisiana Purchase, go back to France.
Fuck you NEW York, go back to York.
07/08/09
07/08/09
The Shrub's legacy lives on.
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07/08/09
And this was in the 80's.
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07/08/09
I thought the accepted reference was now "cognitive disability" or "mental disability."
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07/08/09
@Penny: They are considering changing it due to how it has been appropriated, but it's not a guarentee. Personally, I don't think it should be changed since it would be an expensive overhaul (more than mental retardation-psychomotor retardation, retardation in response, etc).
07/08/09
07/08/09
It is a clinical term still used in my psychology textbook.
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07/08/09
Of course I wouldn't want him to get nothing--regardless of intent, the molestation will affect the little boy--but this seems an exorbitant price for Alex to pay.
Definitely a lose-lose all around.
Part of me thinks maybe the homosexual aspect of it influences, however indirectly, the severity of the sentence. Is that just my hyper-sensitive LGBT rights radar flipping out on me?
07/08/09
The offenders in prison are the one's that are basically released subjected to parole and tend to molest again. Prison is a bad, bad thing for sex offenders on multiple levels. But it's hard for people not to understand that no prison doesn't equal being back on the streets.
This guy? Is going to win on appeal. Because I have no clue why he was competent to stand trial. Seriously.
07/08/09
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07/08/09
An FBI agent told me that there is a higher level of recidivism for male pedophiles who commit crimes against young boys vs. young girls (I don't remember about the ones who molest both). I think that's a very interesting and strange thing and it's hard to read too much into.
But I bet in any of our rape/sex assault cases, if you had a male victim instead of a female victim, people would be more likely to convict. I've heard people say things like, "it's worse if a man gets raped by a man" and "it's worse if a lesbian gets raped by a man." So it seems like a combination of homophobia and "she must have been asking for it."
07/08/09
07/09/09
Poor Alex. The best (also worst) part is at the end, when the dad says he really doesn't understand what's happened - whenever they visit him in prison, he talks about when he's coming home, etc etc. I mean, it's good that he doesn't realize how horribly he's been treated, but I think *not even realizing where you are and why* is a sign you don't have the cognitive abilities of an adult.