Bill Cosby’s conviction overturned - will be released today

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Sexual assault was NEVER okay. But how sexual assault was DEFINED was different. And these women were basically groupies. They were SIGNING UP for drugs and sex. Shall we prosecute every musician who ever had a drug and sex party in their tour bus too? But I get it. We're in a moral panic. Ritual Satanic abuse was never okay either. Remember that moral panic? And then when the dust settled, exactly ZERO children had been locked in basements at their daycare centers and raped and sacrificed? But a lot of people's lives had been ruined during the panic.

Even if a woman voluntarily took the pills so what? Having sex with someone incapacitated by drugs or alcohol is still rape. A person doesn't get to just have his way with someone who is passed out and can't say no or stop him just because she said yes to a pill when she wasn't incapacitated. And this was true in my state long before Cosby. It is these kind of attitudes that somehow the victim wanted it because she was drunk, or she wore the wrong thing, or went to the wrong place, that kept women (and still do) from getting the justice they deserve.

Even groupies, sluts, and prostitutes don’t sign up to be drugged and have sex without their consent, and NEVER did.

(snipped by CW4D)

I regret that I have but one like to give this and regret having to edit as well.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

The chances are they didn't resist it either until they found out the the only way to gain something "extra" was to tell all. It takes two to do that stuff and you have to first know how and why those women were at the place where it happened. Just because you wouldn't have done anything like that, doesn't mean that all women wouldn't. The Prostitutes were probably doing that to get drugs, so I guess more then one can throw false concern GTFOH bullcrap.

This is an absolutely disgusting post. What is with all the victim blaming?

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

What on earth was wrong with your parents?
Feel bad for your mom’s poor clients!
They obviously didn’t have a professional with a full deck,

giving them the benefit of doubt perhaps they were friends (or having inter marital affair) but that was NOT accepted office behaviour in the 80s.

That was pretty uncalled for. By everyone's logic here, his mom was just as much of a victim of sexual harassment as the women Cosby allegedly assaulted. His mother may say she wasn't and has every right to feel that way. Why would it ever be okay to "blame a victim" who don't share the same views as you and call them mentally incapable?

 

[jrmasm]

The sentence was 3 to 10 years and he served 3 so they did get justice as it was laid out. I don't approve of that behavior either but the man is old, he lost all the respect he had worked for all his life, he paid out millions in civil decisions and is going to live out the rest of his days with the shame. He didn't exactly get off scott free. I can, at 73, tell you that the world was a lot different back then. Things like that were not judged the same way at the time. I'd guess that based on todays norms almost all of us would be looking through bars at this point. It may have been a moral issue back then but it wasn't a legal one.

Rape was 100% a legal and moral issue “back then”. Its that damn simple. People looking the other way doesn’t change that.

 

[RedAngie]

Never cared for the man, even way back. If anything, it wouldn’t have surprised me if it had been revealed he was a pedo, what with those cringey jello-pop commercials with all those kids. And his TV show made me want to puke my guts out.

 

[GreatLakes]

Had they not used his deposition, they wouldn't have had a case.

If that is true, and there was a lot of other evidence outside of that deposition so it may not be, then they shouldn't have charged him. There are rules for a reason.

 

[lilypgirl]

The law does not take feelings into consideration nor should it. What the DA did was illegal and his conviction was not valid. Let this be a lesson to all of us that cheating the system to prosecute someone regardless of guilt isn't OK and not how our legal system should be used. Maybe we should do away with the statue of limitations on sex crimes or make it easier for victims to come forward.

 

[lilypgirl]

What on earth was wrong with your parents?
Feel bad for your mom’s poor clients!
They obviously didn’t have a professional with a full deck,

giving them the benefit of doubt perhaps they were friends (or having inter marital affair) but that was NOT accepted office behaviour in the 80s.

A little over the top don't you think?

 

[BrianL]

If that is true, and there was a lot of other evidence outside of that deposition so it may not be, then they shouldn't have charged him. There are rules for a reason.

Honestly, I can't believe this wasn't brought up the first time - at least I don't remember hearing much about it. It's pretty egregious that they used the depositions - depositions that were only made due to a promise not to prosecute. I really hate that this happened and the result, but I can't defend the overstep at all.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I understand why it happened, but feel terrible for the victims. Still, his legacy and reputation are destroyed. He'll live out the remainder of his life in luxury, but will be banished from greater society. Future generations won't look at his content because history will inform them that while he was breaking barriers in the comedy world, he was also a serial rapist. Despite all of the mountains of evidence against him...offered up by his dozens of victims....he's never apologized for his crimes. He's tried to play the "consensual" card.....which is quite frankly....disgusting. Whatever good he's done in society is erased. He drugged women until they were unconscious and then raped them. Any philanthropy on his part, or that of his wife....also erased. So, good for him...he's out. He can live out his life with his delusional wife and family...and whatever "hanger on" friends he still has.

 

[mrodgers]

Even if a woman voluntarily took the pills so what? Having sex with someone incapacitated by drugs or alcohol is still rape. A person doesn't get to just have his way with someone who is passed out and can't say no or stop him just because she said yes when she wasn't incapacitated. And this was true in my state long before Cosby. It is these kind of attitudes that somehow the victim wanted it because she was drunk, or she wore the wrong thing, or went to the wrong place, that kept women (and still do) from getting the justice they deserve.


I regret that I have but one like to give this and regret having to edit as well.

Just tossing this out there. If a man is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, he is held responsible for anything he does. If a woman is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, she is not held responsible for anything she does.

Every news article you read says in the author's words that he admitted to drugging her. The transcripts being reported (I can't see the NYT article everything points to to see the actual transcripts) states within the articles he admitted to giving her drugs, not drugging her. There is a difference. The quoting of the testimony says something different than what every article's author states. The "news" does this with everything they produce in print.

Note, I don't have an opinion on any of it, just throwing out what I am now reading, seeking based on talk in other forums, when trying to find transcripts of his testimony/deposition, whatever it's called.

 

[bdcp]

Just tossing this out there. If a man is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, he is held responsible for anything he does. If a woman is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, she is not held responsible for anything she does.

Huh? Anyone who commits a crime under the influence is responsible. A woman who is drugged or drunk while being sexually assaulted is not at fault. I do not get your logic at all. A woman who is raped while being drugged or drunk is having something illegal done to her, she's not committing a crime.

 

[jrmasm]

Huh? Anyone who commits a crime under the influence is responsible. A woman who is drugged or drunk while being sexually assaulted is not at fault. I do not get your logic at all. A woman who is raped while being drugged or drunk is having something illegal done to her, she's not committing a crime.

And people wonder why some women don’t come forward or take years to report a sexual assault.

 

[dvcgirl67]

[QUOTE="Heigh-Ho, post: 63134252, member: 667782"

You are obviously entitled to your opinion and viewpoint on the subject (and I can respect that it's your viewpoint even if I vehemently disagree with it), they are however a crucial reason why it took so long for women to even be listened to. The Me Too Movement shouldn't even be brought into the conversation as if the movement is the problem. It's not.
[/QUOTE]

Exactly. The MeToo movement should really have been called "The...It's About Freakin' Time" movement. It was simply a time when all of the sudden.....women were believed and listened to. The fact that a whole lot of offenders got caught up in a giant net at once....is simply a consequence that there was sooooooo many of them to be caught.

Is there a continuum of horrific behavior? Of course. Louis C.K. isn't in the same category at Bill Cosby. In time, it's up to society to determine if any of these offenders deserve an audience. I believe Louis C.K. has popped up here and there to try and make a comeback. It's just hard to imagine ever wanting to watch him again, because the whole time I'd just be thinking....."ewwwww...he's so gross".

 

[Jennasis]

My ignore list...she grows.

 

[JimMIA]

My ignore list...she grows.

I haven't added anyone because of this thread, but it does surprise me that the thread hasn't been locked yet.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Rape was 100% a legal and moral issue “back then”. Its that damn simple. People looking the other way doesn’t change that.

Problem is, the people who love to claim "oh the world was different back then" for whatever reason don't seem to recognize that this perception was due to their privilege in society and not because anything they are trying to justify with that phrase was ever acceptable.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I haven't added anyone because of this thread, but it does surprise me that the thread hasn't been locked yet.

I thought the same.

 

[RedAngie]

The law does not take feelings into consideration nor should it. What the DA did was illegal and his conviction was not valid. Let this be a lesson to all of us that cheating the system to prosecute someone regardless of guilt isn't OK and not how our legal system should be used. Maybe we should do away with the statue of limitations on sex crimes or make it easier for victims to come forward.

Some lower court judge allowed the prosecution to go forward. Blame that person, if you want, not the DA.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Just tossing this out there. If a man is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, he is held responsible for anything he does. If a woman is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, she is not held responsible for anything she does.

For real are you comparing something like DWI to getting sexually assaulted? Because if so I sincerely have to ask what is wrong with you.