I noticed an odd tweet this morning, ostensibly from Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson, with a message directed to me and Rachel.
To be sure, I don't know if this is the judge's actual Twitter account, or an account created to make Johnson appear foolish. In fact, I strongly suspect it's the latter. But after seeing the tweet, I couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, Johnson had said that would invite the ire of godless socialists.
A longtime Newport Beach judge who said that a rape victim "didn't put up a fight" and that her sexual assault was only "technical" apologized for his remarks when confronted by a state agency.
Superior Court Judge Derek G. Johnson was publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which said the judge's comments breached judicial ethics and created an impression of bias against the victim.
At issue is a 2008 case, in which a man named Metin Gurel had been convicted of rape, forcible oral copulation, domestic battery, stalking, and making threats against his former live-in girlfriend. Specifically, Gurel is also believed to have threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his victim with a heated screwdriver.
Prosecutors sought a 16-year sentence, but Johnson instead imposed a six-year prison term. Then he explained why.
According to materials released yesterday, the judge said, "I'm not a gynecologist, but I can tell you something. If someone doesn't want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage in inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case. That tells me that the victim in this case, although she wasn't necessarily willing, she didn't put up a fight."
Johnson added that the rape of Gurel's victim was "technical," and not "a real, live criminal case."
While this is clearly both twisted and nauseating, it's also a reminder that Todd Akin's ridiculous perspective on rape was not an aberration. There are still far too many conservatives who actually think this way.
One need not be a godless socialist to be offended.
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It's sad that this kind of belief is so common. This kind of attitude, followed by the "they were asking for it" behavior that follows if a rape victim so much as smiles at their attacker. So many rapes go unreported because it doesn't become an investigation into the rapist, but the raped.
Imagine if robberies were treated like rapes...
I was unaware that this belief was even out there, frankly, until Akin opened his mouth. It's shocking that such thinking is at all prevalent.
I think it's time to change rape laws, making any unwanted touching of a female a rape or at least a felony, requiring the defendant to prove any act was completely consensual (perhaps prior written consent to each proposed act?), and increasing the penalties to include castration and/or hormone therapy to eliminate testosterone-fueled activities. Yes, I mean to make them not-men if they transgress. Perhaps a graduated level of unmanning based on the level of violence to the point that they would be physically incapable of rape. Add some laws that require all men to be in the national DNA database (no rapist left unfound! no father unidentified!), and all babies to have a clear father, who will then be required to provide for that baby starting prenatal through college, up to and including X hours of labor as needed.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm getting carried away. I'm angry, what can I say? Not becoming in a civil liberties advocate. Not conducive to happy impulses. Not kind to men. (Most men need not fear such laws, I do believe.) But female-friendly laws need to get put on the books to make guys very very afraid of the penalties. Require men to change their ways or else. No more "boys will be boys" mentality; no free rides where women are concerned. The heat needs to rise in this particular kitchen.
The guy's from Orangutang County, the land of white people dumber than a bag of hammers. They always have been, they always will be.
Unfortunately the majority of people in rural northern CA fall in the same category. And they are not rich. They have a high number of elderly, poor, unemployed and those on entitlements (food stamps, disability, etc). And they just voted for a very conservative GOP rich, old, white guy into Congress. This was to replace a rich, old, white conservative right-wing nut, Wally Herger who finally retired after many re-elections.
We had a chance to change the course of our representation, but NO, we send the same totally "unconnected to real life, recycled from state government office" representative. And he even made a WAR on WOMEN" lie during the campaign: abortion leads to increased chance of breast cancer.
So sad.
Donni, I wish those methods of punishment were absolute in stopping violent sexual assault. Strangely, even men who are incapacitated sexually still take out their rage on women. Rape with objects instead, assault in other ways. It's a symptom of a sickness in our menfolk. And women must come together to fight it apparently because too many of our lawmakers refuse to.
So why is this man still on the bench?
Because the loonies in Orange County elected him.
Good question. In Illinois he would be disciplined and transferred to an administrative job instead hearing court cases. I assume there are other states where he would be sanctioned and/or removed.
Actually, favedave, he was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis. Superior Court judges in California don't go on the ballot unless someone decides to contest their seat.
And can we please lay off on Orange County a bit? There are a lot more democrats here than there used to be, with several large cities (Anaheim, Santa Ana) majority dem. One judge doesn't speak for the entire population of the county.
From the linked article:
...threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his ex-girlfriend with a heated screwdriver, beat her with a metal baton and made other violent threats before committing rape, forced oral copulation, and other crimes.
A good beating with a metal rod always puts me in the mood. I always feel so....Ummmmm.....Relaxed?
I'm not a gynecologist
Nor a judge.
Nor, y'know, human.
Attitudes and ideas like this were perfectly acceptable 60 or 70 years ago but we as a civilization and a culture are rapidly evolving on them in the 21st century. The problem is that there are still people who are living in the social "Cave" of a bygone era and refuse adamantly to change. The fact that one political ideology in particular not only lends it's self to this mentality but seems to attract individuals with it should come as no surprise.
They may be rapist themselves, why are they against Sharia Law, simply because rape is punishable by death. But, they rarely follow that law.
Angel - you are aware that most rapists under Sharia law get away scott free, are given the right to marry their victims, or push the onus on the victim who then gets executed, right?
"The victim lured me" premise, also used as an excuse for child molestation.
If the women doesn't fight back her chances of survival are much greater. When she acts defenseless it improves her chances of not being raped and then murdered.Sometimes her only defense is to not resist and pray. Rape is a violent act, coupled with resistance can accelerate into more violence against the victim.
And, of course, if she is dead, she must have been forcibly raped,,
Salem Witch Trials, anyone?
Stow your victim blaming, Angel.
You know what can stop rapes? If RAPISTS stop raping.
Sheesh. Did you even read the comment before responding to it?
Steve, no kidding!! As someone who experienced it, the "lie there and think of England" approach kept me physically unharmed and breathing. Mentally, that's a different story, but it is a story that I can still tell without the assistance of a coroner.
Katherine, re-read Angel's comment.
I've re-read it several times and it just sounds like victim-blaming to me. It's of the sort 'if she did x, then y.' All the onus is placed on the victim rather than the attacker. This is how it is in society, it's always their fault and it's always their problem and they should always do x, y, and z to prevent themselves from being raped or to make it less horrible on themselves. Maybe it's just my interpretation.
I want society to be the sort where it's never, "if you want to reduce your chances of rape..." I want it to be the sort of society where the immediate statement is "stop raping people, jackhole!"
Katherine: YOU. ARE. AN. IDIOT.
Angel is not blaming anything on anyone, or suggesting strategies to prevent rape. Angel is simply pointing out the undeniable fact that a rapist, already committing violence, is likely to get even more violent if his target tries to fight back. That isn't victim blaming, it isn't an attempt to excuse the rapist, it isn't anything like what you say it is.
In fact, it is quite explicitly knocking down Judge Johnson's own little expedition into the realm of victim blaming. The judge claimed that the lady in his court room wasn't "really raped" because she didn't fight back. Angel is pointing out the rather clear and obvious flaw in the judge's "logic".
Okay, yes you're right I was completely wrong and I apologize for misinterpreting Angel's words.
I'm just frustrated with the whole society as a whole putting so much onus on the victims of rape - and in my frustration I interpreted Angel's words as the opposite of what they meant.
Angel's comment, an analogy:
If you are being mugged by someone with a loaded gun, do you fight back & get shot or give up your wallet & stay alive?
paraphrase: If it's in her, she wanted it.
When did Andrew Dice Clay become a judge?
Yep, typical "Conservative Christian", "I am an old white rich man, and we are better than everyone else on the planet, minorities and women are second class citizens", oh, please forgive me, I need to go,,, and throw-up,,,,,
To commit such medieval belief to print in a legal opinion is to show an utter inability to transcend horribly held prejudiced thought and belief regarding a gender the judge will never ever actually be able to fully embody experientially, yet he can make such an invalidatingly repugnant ruling with a stroke of a pen!
No doubt about it, American voters must get smarter in every election cycle henceforth!
The things Derek Johnson thinks are precious/I can't understand! -Kevo
The judge is just following Scalia's lead. All opinion and no law.
This is just another one of them cases of wimmens askin' fer it. Shorty shorts and lipstick, and steppin' out of line.
They needs to to remember what happened to that French chick who got all uppity with the men folks. Joan of Arc, was what they called her. French toast is whut she wuz.
Being human, however, might be a requirement. I read this to my cats and they did not appear to be upset, although one of them did hack up a hairball shortly afterward.
I find myself stunned that he could affirmatively give a much lighter sentence than requested on the basis of these beliefs and all he gets is a finger wag and a firm tut-tut from the state's commission on judicial performance with an admonishment about how admitting to sentencing on the basis of dangerously ignorant misogynistic beliefs might create an appearance of bias.
I hate to nitpick, but when a "body shuts down," the person dies. No blood flow, no respiration, no brain activity. That's shutting down.
So, if the judge's ignorant remarks were true, whenever a woman was "really" raped, you could tell because she'd be dead.
What a jackass.
Let's set the Judge up to be raped! Afterwards he can comment on whether or not he was raped!
Maybe his body will shut down.
When will these misogynistic, throw-backs to the 18th century going to die and remove themselves from the human population?
I wonder when will the citizens stop voting for them.
How old is this judge?...hopefully he will be dying soon. That is all we can hope for because as it has been stated, he is not an anomaly. We simply have to wait for them to all die...
Twist his words? Seriously?!
He admitted it himself that he's not a gynecologist, yet he somehow "knows" how the female body can respond to being rape. The disconnect with some of these conservatives is astounding to me and how they can't connect the fact that rape sometimes causes pregnancies.
He shouldn't worry about the "liberal" media and that they will "twist" his words. His words from his twisted mind are already spoken, now they can be shared with the rest of the country and prove how wrong he is.
That tweet is fake, let's not start quoting it as though he actually said anything about the media twisting his words.
The words he did say are offensive enough.
What does it take to impeach a judge? This man needs to be removed from his post immediately.
I guess if he had killed or mutilated her it would have been a "real" rape then.
Speaking as a godless socialist, no one needs to twist anything to know that opinions like his are not new or surprising. At least, now, we are talking openly about this bs when they say it. We need to keep up the pressure to remove people like him from their positions of power and influence. It will be the consequences which change their actions long before their attitudes toward women evolve.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/10/03/947981/court-requires-disabled-rape-victim-to-prove-she-fought-back-calls-for-evidence-of-biting-kicking-scratching/
This is a similar story to the one linked to above where the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction, siting that the victim must prove she fought back and said no. The victim is a developmental disabled adult with the mental abilities of a 3 year old. And the flippin supreme court said she had to prove she said no???? The poor thing probably had no idea what was happening to her!
These judges have no business hearing cases when their attitudes are so flagrantly biased against the victims. How in the world the judges in either case can justify their comments and their rulings is beyond me. These judges are not human, certainly they are not humane.
Proud to be a hard on crime socialist! Rapists go to jail for life. Public lying gets prosecuted (Romney). Felons to have tracking chips installed (a la colonoscopy). @!$%#ty drivers luz drvr's liscenses. Bankers who fail to do due diligence. Torture. Social profiteers. Put them in prison.
I'm usually more of a rehabilitation-is-a-better-plan type. But this sort of thing makes me very angry and shakes up my personal value system (very rule-of-law, follow the rules, non-violent) dramatically. When I get angry like this, violent and vengeful thoughts intrude. I become a much more vindictive person than I normally am.
It worries me, actually. I wonder if this anger is productive or dangerous. So far, I am inclined to act within the law -- but is there a tipping point even for very law-abiding me? Am I the only one anxious about this?
Of course I can't find the resource, but I've read that rapists don't rehabilitate.
The Right keeps "asking for it" like they did in 1860, and sooner or later they're going to "get it."
TC...,
And the sooner the better.
So why all the outrage now? Why did it take so long for him to be reprimanded? This was reported over four years ago.
http://www.ocweekly.com/2008-10-30/news/moxley-confidential/
Because it takes that long for the worthless system of disciplining these scum to arrive at a "conclusion."
The only bright spot I see in this, is that like thinking Conservatives are
Growing
Old &
Perishing
Some of us liberals aren't getting any younger, either. Will we see positive change in our lifetimes? I hope so.
The judge is waiting,,,, Rachael/Steve/et al,, please put this story front and center..!
Has anyone actually determined this guys political affiliation or are we simply jumping to conclusions based on our own prejudices?
Given the tweet about "godless socialists", I think we can take a pretty good guess at his affiliation.
From the original article:
"I don't know if this is the judge's actual Twitter account, or an account created to make Johnson appear foolish. In fact, I strongly suspect it's the latter."
So it's likely a fake tweet. Faked by who and for what purpose? To feed prejudice? Does it even matter that it's fake? Have we already made our minds up? Of course we have.