"Lawless Lands": Michael Riley, writing in the Denver Post, investigates the dysfunctional state of law enforcement on Native American reservations, and the shocking consequences for crime victims. Bill Moyer's Journal has followed up with an excellent documentary expose entitled "Broken Justice." [more inside]
posted by fourcheesemac on Nov 15, 2008 - 22 comments

The three-decade decline in teenage and young-adult rape accompanies huge drops in all crimes -- murder, assault, drug abuse and property -- committed by youth... Women's rapidly rising status and economic independence in the larger society fostered new attitudes and laws that rejected violence against women. That younger people growing up in this environment of greater gender equality should show the biggest decreases in rape, while older generations lag behind, is consistent with this explanation... Over the last 30 years, rape arrest rates have fallen by 80% among Californians under age 15, much larger than the 25% drop among residents age 40 and older.

The decline of rape
So, kids today are different.
posted by y2karl on Feb 22, 2007 - 93 comments

What part of no do ya still not understand? Date rape in the time of Kobe, roofies and Girls Gone Wild. By Judith Lewis, with bonus 'toon by Ellen Forney.
posted by xowie on Nov 20, 2003 - 85 comments

Man Pleads Guilty to Raping his own 2 month old Daughter
But wait, that's just the beginning. This guy's daddy heads the state Corrections Department and part of his plea is to reduce the amount of time he's going to spend in jail for this most heinous act.
This guy is facing, if the judge agrees to the plea, only 6 months in jail! The standard sentence for first-degree child rape is seven to 10 years in prison.
He's admitted to molesting a 9 year old in Maine before and has also been convicted of orchestrating an armed robbery.
How in the heck he's going to get ANY leniency is beyond me.
posted by fenriq on Oct 29, 2003 - 65 comments

“Six men can carry you or 12 men can judge you. You decide!” "...Fugitive cosmetics heir Andrew Luster returned to California from Mexico Thursday to begin serving a 124-year prison sentence for raping three women. His return came more than five months after he fled the United States during trial." His capture involved one of the United State's most respected bounty hunters, Duane "Dog" Chapman. This is his website, this is his story. This is also, unfortunately, his mullet.
posted by jdaura on Jun 19, 2003 - 43 comments

DNA frees 3 convicts after 17-year incarcerations --Barry Scheck and The Innocence Project have struck again. Thus far, they have used DNA to free 128 wrongly convicted people. Read Frontline's interview with Scheck. Learn about a sister organization, Northwestern's Center on Wrongful Convictions, which has freed nine Illinois men who were once sentenced to death. For those sentenced to time in the can, prison can be a rough place. How can we prevent innocent people from being put to death? Or fates worse than death?
posted by trharlan on Jun 12, 2003 - 39 comments

Sex Crimes and equal treatment "under the law." (pun anyone?)

Outraged prosecutors said Thursday that they will appeal the sentence given to Edwin "Ed" Mann, a former Orlando Police Department sex-crimes detective, for having a sexual affair with a 14-year-old girl who had earlier dated his son.

Mann, a former leader in Cops for Christ, pleaded guilty last week to four felony charges resulting from an ongoing sexual relationship he had with the girl two years ago when he was a sex-crimes detective.

Do you think being "religious" and policeman merits special treatment from a judge?
posted by nofundy on Nov 26, 2002 - 37 comments

Justice. Remember the case of the woman in rural Pakistan that was sentenced by a "tribal court" to be gang-raped? Four of the rapists and two of the tribal councillors were sentenced to death today for the crime. Some others were sentenced to life imprisonment. "There's nothing to celebrate," said the victim after hearing of the verdict. "Whatever punishment they got is because of their crime."
posted by laz-e-boy on Sep 2, 2002 - 28 comments

Justice, American style. In July 1997, Michelle Bosko is raped and murdered. Police find no sign of forced entry and recover numerous semen and skin samples as well as fingerprints. The detectives ask the husband for his "gut feeling" for who did it. The husband fingers their neighbor. After many hours with a detective with a history of coerced confessions, he confesses and implicates his roommate. His roommate implicates three other men. Subsequent confessions from those men implicate a total of seven men. None of the suspects match the DNA or fingerprint evidence. Two years later, on a chance recovery of a jailhouse confession, a suspect admits to the killing. He has several rapes/assaults to his record and was a friend of the victim. He later confesses to the crime and says he acted alone. He matches the DNA and fingerprint analysis. The district attorney does NOT believe him, and convicts a total of five people for the crime.
posted by patrickje on Aug 19, 2002 - 51 comments

Disposable dipper to detect "date rape" drug is launched. Now if only we could get something that would detect whether or not the person we're dating is being unfaithful. Well, I guess holding a gun to his/her head and asking them will have to continue to do...
posted by kingmissile on Oct 12, 2001 - 21 comments

Another stupid parent story, without which your day just wouldn't be complete. Mother and Stepfather, who lobbied for a stricter definition of 'rape' in Ohio, are charged with raping their daughter (via artificial insemination). I hate people.
posted by mudbug on Jul 27, 2001 - 22 comments