Judge blames woman for being assaulted

[jagilki]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/09/07/809861/judge-to-woman-sexually-assaulted-by-cop-when-you-blame-others- you-give-up-your-power-to-change/

Last summer, a drunk Arizona police officer named Robb Gary Evans drove himself to a bar, flashed his badge to avoid paying cover at the door, and then walked up behind a woman, put his hand up her skirt, and ran his fingers over her genitals. A jury convicted him of sexual abuse, a felony with a maximum sentence of 2 and a half years in prison, and Evans was fired from the police force after an internal investigation.

Nevertheless, Arizona trial Judge Jacqueline Hatch, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ), decided that Evans’ actions did not warrant jail time â€" sentencing him probation and 100 hours of community service. Evans also will not have to register as a sex offender. Yet, while Judge Hatch apparently did not view the disgraced former cop’s actions as particularly serious, she had some very harsh words for the woman he assaulted:

Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.
“If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you,” Hatch said.
Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.

“I hope you look at what you’ve been through and try to take something positive out of it,” Hatch said to the victim in court. “You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability.”

Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change,” Hatch said that her mother used to say.

The victim, who has not been identified by the press, called for Judge Hatch to apologize for her offensive comments, adding that if she had not been at the bar to be assaulted by Evans, “it probably would have happened to someone else.”

[Black Death]

WTF!!!!

[Jennifer]

Fucking bullshit victim blaming.

The emphasis should be "Don't do this shit" not "Don't 'let' people do this shit to you"

[Star]

Wow...

[Mike Powers]

Finally someone stands up to these cocky teasing whores.



























Totally, 100% kidding by the way.

[Hondo]

The last I checked, this was a free country. And if you want to go to a bar, that's certainly your choice. So is how you dress, how you act, etc. You can't force people to conform to your ideals, that's something I've learned over my years as a Christian. You can lead by example, but you can't hold a gun to someone's head and ask them to accept Christ. You gotta make that choice on your own. Regardless, It was inappropriate of the judge to use her robe to teach a morality tale. End of story.

But I have to question the writer of the article throwing in that a Republican governor had appointed the judge. What does Jan Brewer have to do with any of this? No need to bring politics into any of this at all.

[GM Franchise]

If it wasn't a cop doing this then the judge probably wouldn't have blamed the victim, bottom line.

[jagilki]

But I have to question the writer of the article throwing in that a Republican governor had appointed the judge. What does Jan Brewer have to do with any of this? No need to bring politics into any of this at all.

I don't like talking politics on the internet much as I hate both major American Political parties for various reasons, but from what I've seen of some of the speeches at the DNC this week, it's a part of the Democratic line of attack that Republicans are trying to take rights away from women.