The Polanski Petition

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/ Hilarious deconstruction.

Prosecutor Lies

According to news reports: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/30/pivotal-player-in-polansk_n_305772.html, the Polanski prosecutor lied when he told a French documentary that he had an ex parte commucnication with the sentencing Judge in the Polanski rape case, and that he, the Prosecutor encouraged the Judge to put the screws to Polanski despite a plea deal.

My first reaction to this report is a big so what, because prosecutorial misconduct of any kind is not relevant to the real story--the march of the Hollywood apologists.

On reflection, as an attorney you see the reason why the rules governing professional conduct require lawyers in public office not to act in ways that bring discredit on the profession; i.e. carrying on ex parte communications with a sentencing Judge, lying about professional acts to the media--this kind of stuff brings discredit on lawyers in the most direct way and more importantly undermines trust in the "just us" system. So, now you have one of the major actors, the prosecutor, in a symbolically important rape case undermining the faith one could have had in the fairness with which Polanski was treated at the time of his rape conviction. In actuality it's ridiculous, Polanski was treated more than fairly, but the sheer fact that the prosecutor admits to a lie gives wind to the bogus arguments of the apologists.

At the end of the day, this lawyer needs a good smack.

Rape Apologists

Jeffrey Toobin, perhaps the most rational legal commentator on CNN last night--made the point that if Hollywood wanted to confirm the stereotype that it is out of touch with mainstream values, the petition in support of the rapist Roman Polanski, is just the demonstration.

Roman Polanski is a great artist. The Pianist, is a great film and Polanski directed and participated in the creation of many great cinematic masterpieces. He is also a child rapist--he admits it. According to press reports his arrest was prompted by a taunt in court papers filed by his lawyers: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/09/29/2009-09-29_roman_polanskis_lawyer_caught_das_attention_when_he_claimed_us_wasnt_trying_to_n.html

So how is it that we can ignore the crimes of persons like Polanski, in fact how do we rationalize honoring him and going so far to make such a person out to be a victim?

This is precisely the same thing that occurred here in our Home Town, in Our Home State and around the country when I began to represent victims of rape and incest against the family members who raped and covered-up the crimes. Other family members rode to the rescue, attacked the victim, extolled the perpetrator. The same thing happened in the priest sex abuse scandals. A dear friend of mine, in fact my God Father, a sainted man in my view--related to me the story of an accusation against a priest in his parish. My God father's first response was an attack on the character of the mother of the victim.

Could it be that our values, religious, aesthetic, familial override our integrity? At bottom, it is a matter of what we have invested in our relationships, and with whom we identify. Oh, for the record, what Polanski did, the Grand Jury testimony summarized here: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/roman-polanski/Story?id=8705958&page=1