Monday, July 12, 2010
The Swiss: Roman Polanski Has Suffered Enough
The Bad Lawyer originally looked at the Roman Polanski story last September, when we marveled at how the celebrity culture flocked to sign petitions to protest poor Roman's persecution after being arrested decades after pleading guilty and becoming a fugitive from justice after brutally raping a teenage girl. Well, I'm sure it's not news to you that the Swiss have decided that poor Roman has suffered enough and have released him from his palatial prison cell, er chalet confinement. Whatever. Some pay all, some skate.
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Your statement that "the Swiss have decided that poor Roman has suffered enough and have released him" is incorrect. What the Swiss have decided is that there was a fault in the US extradition request.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. I think Polanski should stand trial. I was disgusted by those in Hollywood, the French and Polish governments, and others who argued that because he was a "great artist" he should be treated differently by the law. Polanski should be treated the same as everyone else. That means that he should stand trial (or serve the terms of his plea). It also means the US has to prove the case for his extradition - unfortunately they failed to do so. I am angry with the Los Angeles District Attorney office for not properly arguing the case for extradition. I am not angry at the Swiss for rejecting a faulty extradition request. The Swiss authorities were just doing their job. It's a pity that the US authorities did not do theirs.
Martin--
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear from you! I was being purely sarcastic. Seriously, your analysis is impeccable as usual, this story is most interesting to me from the standpoint that celebrity and talent trumps waht arguably should have been blind justice.
BL
Actually I think there is something else going on here. This seems to be the latest in a series of high-profile cases where the US is using its political clout to bully countries into extraditing suspects, rather than using due process of law. It seems the US has become accustomed to winning by bullying and so has become sloppy in its extradition requests. The Swiss are to be applauded for standing up to US bullying. It also seems to me that the LA DA was more interested in making a name for himself than seeing justice done.
ReplyDeleteMartin--
ReplyDeleteHere, I think we need to make a distinction between federal and the local LA district attorney. In the Polanski case you have the latter acting to extradite Polanski, not the former. While I do agree that the US likes to havve its way in the realm of international law, especially during the Bush administration I think your observation relative to the Polanski case may be slightly off target. The more disturbing case, which I have not mentioned was the inapplication of the right to a "speedy trial" relative to some alleged-foreign combatants held at Guantanamo which was handed down in US District court. This latter decision which made the front page of the NYT was probably better evidence for your point than the local actions of the Los Angeles prosecutor seeking extradition of Polanski from the Swiss.
BL
I agree I'm slightly off-target here: my comment was based more on gut feeling than analysis
ReplyDelete