Roman Polanski Is Arrested in Switzerland

[Big Don]

The smart *** in me has to ask: Isn't three decades in France punishment enough?

 

[Bruno@MT]

Nothing susprises me anymore in that regard. I've see slashdotters mention that Hans Reiser should have been left off the hook because they felt it could be argued that Hans' work on ReiserFS was more valuable to 'humanity' than the life of the wife he murdered. I didn't respond to that. Can't argue with crazy.

Clarification for those who don't know:
Slashdot is a forum where Geeks and Nerds talk about stuff. Mostly related to the tech world.
Hans Reiser was a programmer (supposedly very good) who developed a file system for linux (supposedly not that great). Apart from very intelligent, he is also extremely arrogant. His wife went missing, and there was a big pile of circumstantial evidence. He might even have walked, had he not taken the stand, against his lawyer's wishes. He talked himself into the conviction by piling ridiculous argument on ridiculous argument. After his conviction he escaped life sentencing by showing where the body was hidden.

 

[KELLYG]

Just out of curiosity, has Polanski been in an extradition country other than this time in the last 30 years? If he has not why did he leave this time. If he has why did he get busted this time?

 

[Live True]

Kelly, it's my understanding that he has been in other countries where he could be extradited, but was in and out before police could get organized. This time there was a lot of advance notice.

 

[CanuckMA]

Kelly, it's my understanding that he has been in other countries where he could be extradited, but was in and out before police could get organized. This time there was a lot of advance notice.

Not quite. He's been to Switzerland regularly. It is my understanding that he has a residence. One of the unanswered questions here is why have the Swiss arrested him now?

 

[CoryKS]

Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child

But Chinatown was a good movie (I'm told) so it's all good, right?

 

[Big Don]

The Smoking Gun has Polanski (the pervert's) Plea Transcript
LINK
He fully understood his plea, and the consequences of it. He should be given the maximum sentence allowed by law for that crime and prosecuted for fleeing justice for 30 years.
Seizing his assets would be a nice way to finance this.

 

[Sukerkin]

Gentlemen, I can't help but think that you are allowing your perfectly legitimate revulsion at the crime committed by a 'famous' person to override the countless cases of the worse crimes committed that never see the light of day.

For example, Catholic Priest ... Choir Boy ... Politician ... Secretary ... an all too prevalent pair of couplets, the mingling of which is swept under the carpet and quietly absolved when things come to light on the odd occasion.

Don't allow the fact that this is a 'decadent' and priveledged 'artist' to make your rage any the less or any the more than for all those cases you haven't heard about or don't care to countenance.

Righteous indignation has it's place and without it sometimes things cannot be changed but it is inaccurate thinking to believe that venting spleen on one figure buys absolution for others that we know naught about.

Power is exploited every minute of every day around the world - until we break that equation the crucifiction of an unfortunate few who 'get caught' does nothing but salve consciences that are pricked by a vague sense of communal guilt.

We can rail and be sated by how moral we are to have cried for blood all we like - that says something rather worse about us than it does about the crime I fear.

All that said, I do have to confess that if it were my daughter he'd done that to ...

 

[grydth]

Gentlemen, I can't help but think that you are allowing your perfectly legitimate revulsion at the crime committed by a 'famous' person to override the countless cases of the worse crimes committed that never see the light of day.

For example, Catholic Priest ... Choir Boy ... Politician ... Secretary ... an all too prevalent pair of couplets, the mingling of which is swept under the carpet and quietly absolved when things come to light on the odd occasion.

Don't allow the fact that this is a 'decadent' and priveledged 'artist' to make your rage any the less or any the more than for all those cases you haven't heard about or don't care to countenance.

Righteous indignation has it's place and without it sometimes things cannot be changed but it is inaccurate thinking to believe that venting spleen on one figure buys absolution for others that we know naught about.

Power is exploited every minute of every day around the world - until we break that equation the crucifiction of an unfortunate few who 'get caught' does nothing but salve consciences that are pricked by a vague sense of communal guilt.

We can rail and be sated by how moral we are to have cried for blood all we like - that says something rather worse about us than it does about the crime I fear.

All that said, I do have to confess that if it were my daughter he'd done that to ...

For me, that Polanski is an artist doesn't make the crime better or worse... the uncontested facts behind this child rape are horrible enough.

I believe the reason "artist" keeps coming up is a well founded suspicion that Polanski will manipulate said status to escape punishment - as he has for 3 decades.

Cries for blood may reflect badly upon us; allowing child molesters to run free, indeed celebrating them, that sir will damn us.

If we will not defend our children, we will not defend anything. At that juncture, should it come to that, we will be worse than Polanski.

 

[Big Don]

For me, that Polanski is an artist doesn't make the crime better or worse... the uncontested facts behind this child rape are horrible enough.

I believe the reason "artist" keeps coming up is a well founded suspicion that Polanski will manipulate said status to escape punishment - as he has for 3 decades.

Cries for blood may reflect badly upon us; allowing child molesters to run free, indeed celebrating them, that sir will damn us.

If we will not defend our children, we will not defend anything. At that juncture, should it come to that, we will be worse than Polanski.

Well said.
I haven't seen anyone call for blood, only justice, you know serving the sentence for the crime he plead guilty to, and of course fleeing to escape that punishment for 3 decades.

 

[Sukerkin]

I don't believe you quite caught my point square on, gentlemen.

Grydth I would ask with all due civillity that you amend the implications of your words that I for a second intimated that I thought any less deeply of this crime than anyone else here.

Ah well, words on a screen cannot ever hope to convey a message with any accuracy.

Bay for blood with righteous fervour - hang the one heinous celebrity that passes in front of your eyes and then rest easy. It will change nothing. The problem will remain and thousands will go unpunished for very similar offences.

I for one don't know how you can ever prevent such crimes, particularly for the rich, powerful or sanctified. We certainly can't from our positions here at the shallow-end of the economic/political/religious pool.

 

[David43515]

According to most of the news stories I`ve read, courts have considered relooking at the plea deal he made (and the first judge supposedly backed out of), but the current judges insist that he must be present for any hearing and he simply refuses to set foot in the US because there`s a warrant out for him.

I sincerely doubt he will ever receive the punishments he so richly deserves, at least in this life. However if he really wants this crap to end, all he has to do is show up in the court and all his Hollywood friends will probably get it thrown out within a week.

 

[grydth]

I don't believe you quite caught my point square on, gentlemen.

Grydth[/d] I would ask with all due civillity that you amend the implications of your words that I for a second intimated that I thought any less deeply of this crime than anyone else here.

Ah well, words on a screen cannot ever hope to convey a message with any accuracy.

Bay for blood with righteous fervour - hang the one heinous celebrity that passes in front of your eyes and then rest easy. It will change nothing. The problem will remain and thousands will go unpunished for very similar offences.

I for one don't know how you can ever prevent such crimes, particularly for the rich, powerful or sanctified. We certainly can't from our positions here at the shallow-end of the economic/political/religious pool.

Far be it from me to attempt to speak for you or anyone else here. Indeed I was referring to your observations on the possible causes and contexts for our indignation.

You can never prevent all child rapes.... but you can punish every one you catch and that manifestly has not been done in Polanski's case to date. Each one you do punish severely shows the rich and famous just how much they have to lose.... and will lose. No, don't hang only the celebrity - hang'em all.

Nobody advocates tolerance or forgetfulness regarding the garden variety child molester. The numerous 'ordinary' pederasts often are severely punished, and not after a delay of 30 years, either... they lack the resources to flee to France and live in fine style, they lack the connections amongst the Illiteratti and star struck officials.

There are a wealth of measures all of us, even those on "the shallow end" can take. The primary one is aggressively take care of your children - the pederasts have shockingly easy hunting because families often won't make the effort of adequate supervision and protection. Educate your children about the danger. I've curtailed my own MA studies but my 2 daughters are getting the best MA available, and I am confident at least the older one can already take care of herself to some extent. When you see an organization protecting a pederast, do not patronize it.... be it a church or a record label or a movie theatre....and if your child is a victim, sue and prosecute the piss out of them. That's what finally curtailed the clergy abuses, and led to the fall of their protectors.

 

[Gordon Nore]

It just occurred to me that folks who want Polanski released and forgiven feel that way for the same reason that so many want him pilloried. He's a celebrity; moreover, an artiste.

One group exalts the artist above normal social responsibility; the other wants an example made of him.

Stringing him up will not deter future sex criminals any more than his work as a film maker exonerates him from fleeing from the justice system.

Polanski is just a guy who drugged a 13-year-old and forced himself upon her. Then, fearing a judge would not acquiesce to a plea agreement, he skips out. He still owes for that. Won't fix anything. Won't change anything. He owes.

 

[crushing]

It just occurred to me that folks who want Polanski released and forgiven feel that way for the same reason that so many want him pilloried. He's a celebrity; moreover, an artiste.

One group exalts the artist above normal social responsibility; the other wants an example made of him.

Stringing him up will not deter future sex criminals any more than his work as a film maker exonerates him from fleeing from the justice system.

Polanski is just a guy who drugged a 13-year-old and forced himself upon her. Then, fearing a judge would not acquiesce to a plea agreement, he skips out. He still owes for that. Won't fix anything. Won't change anything. He owes.

I certainly disagree and give them more credit than that! From the discussion, it looks like the people that want Polanski to be punished for the rape he committed would want any and all rapists to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

 

[Gordon Nore]

I disagree. From the discussion, it looks like the people that want Polanski to be punished for the rape he committed would want any and all rapists to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

My comments were not limited specifically to this discussion, but to the broader range of opinions being voiced in the media. Listening to some comment Debra Winger (a juror for the award he was due to receive) made at a press conference today made me want to :barf:

 

[Big Don]

Had Polanski not fled to France thirty years ago, NONE of this would be necessary. Polanski alone is responsible for all the current hoopla.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Had Polanski not fled to France thirty years ago, NONE of this would be necessary. Polanski alone is responsible for all the current hoopla.

I agree with you.

 

[Bruno@MT]

Gentlemen, I can't help but think that you are allowing your perfectly legitimate revulsion at the crime committed by a 'famous' person to override the countless cases of the worse crimes committed that never see the light of day.

For example, Catholic Priest ... Choir Boy ... Politician ... Secretary ... an all too prevalent pair of couplets, the mingling of which is swept under the carpet and quietly absolved when things come to light on the odd occasion.

I have thought about this, but no. I feel the same about the examples you mention. However, in this case, it is really cut and dried. Polanski is a convicted man who ran away before he got sentenced. He is a fugitive.

My personal feelings aside (father of 2 daughters here), now that he is captured, the arguments don't matter anymore. He should enter the penal system to do his time.

It was his own stupidity that got him in this situation. The wheels are turning and his social status irrelevant. To let him go now would be to say 'celebrities don't need to do time' or 'if you can stay out of our paws long enough, we'll give up'. Both would be wrong imo.

 

[yorkshirelad]

I am really appauled at Debra Winger's stance during the press conference. She is one of the stars of my favourite film (Shadowlands) and now I do not respect her in the slightest. It really goes to show the elitest snobbery that exists in Hollywood circles. Polanski plead guilty and was convicted of THE DRUGGING AND RAPING OF A CHILD. What he did was heinous in the extreme and the Hollywood elite believe that because of his artistic genius he should get a pass. The whole thing makes me sick. This guy has been a fugitive for thirty years. If he doesn't go down for the rest of his natural life, there is something wrong with the system.