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Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

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Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#161
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty dire when you have a system that incentivized throwing the book at those near the poverty line, so that private prisons could continue to grow. It is crony capitalism, plain and simple.

I'm against the idea of private run prisons, it seems like something that should be the purview of the state given the lack of legitimate competition, market fundamentals, and ethical considerations. But that said, is there any real data to support this claim you're making that private prisons incentivizes harsher sentencing of poor people? Besides maybe one or two "bad eggs" stories about judges. ie, data showing a…

I may be parsing it incorrectly, but I take "private prisons" less literally since I know that private prisons are the vast minority. Instead of thinking about the prison itself, consider the "prison industrial complex" in a way that you might consider the "military industrial complex." There are a lot of people who make a lot of money off our prison system, and it includes everyone from food suppliers to lawyers.

Also, private companies now house nearly half of immigrant detainees including a $1 Billion facility the Obama administration purchased to hold Central American women and children seeking asylum in the US.

Specific examples of lobbying are easy enough to google. I might suggest starting with the "Kids for Cash" scandal where two judges got millions of dollars in kickbacks from for-profit juvenile detention centers for sending more kids to their facilities.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#162
post #140
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The county is only 40% black. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/waynecountymich... And the kits were put in storage from 1984-2009, during which time the demographics of Detroit changed very rapidly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Detroit... It wasn't always 80% black.

Very good points. Thank you.

They're actually terrible points, which are very shallow and not pertinent to the situation

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#163

I think the most disturbing thing about this is that there are even 800 serial rapists in one single county, even if it's over a 30-35 year period. That's around 25 serial rapists a year in that one county, which is kind of extraordinary when you think about it. Serial rapists are supposedly incredibly rare. They say that in nearly every case it's someone that the victim knows. This makes me think twice about that. A…

Serial rapists aren't that rare. Here's a Fivethirtyeight article that covers the two major studies about that over the last few years: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-if-most-campus-rap... The crux of the disagreement between the two major studies is that one indicates serial rapists commit most rapes, while the other indicates 10.8% of college men are rapists and many do not do so serially.

Anyhow, gives some stats to pin calculations on.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice the uproar whenever people encounter the term "rape culture", yet when pieces like this come out, nobody puts two and two together: oh shit, maybe when people complain about rape culture, what they mean is that we don't take sexual assault half as seriously as we should.

I've noticed the same area with the vast majority of murders is also the same area as the vast majority of rapes, you are correct that it is a particular culture problem

That's some nice bigotry you are trying to stir up there, buddy. Go back under the alt-right bridge you live in.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#167
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In America, justice is only available to those who can afford it. If you can't afford months or years of lawyer's fees and don't have the ability to take time away from your job, family and other daily obligations, you're simply out of luck.

It is not quite this dire, there are very competent public prosecutors and defenders. The problem is we accept the wealthy can obtain better and more lawyers, and effectively buy more or better justice as they define it. It's a classist system where justice is treated as a product rather than exclusively as a right.

Justice doesn't just come in form of public defenders. I lived in Chicago and had my car improperly towed to the yards. Being a rich computer dork, I could take the time off when the yards were open to go retrieve it. It was only PoC for the entire 3 hours it took me to pay the fine and get my vehicle back, during the day, when anyone with a job would be required to pick up their vehicle.

My job says OK when I tell them I am taking the afternoon off. Most people's don't. Most people's job says, "you're fired!".

One lady lost her car because they found a worn out pot pipe under the driver's seat, while her son was driving the car. For fucks sake. They wanted 1700 to get the car back out of impound. They didn't charge anyone with a crime. But the car was gone.

I on the other hand, had the time to go give my evidence the magistrate and get my 390$ returned due to a improper impound. No working class PoC could have done what I did, on either side of that equation.

The whole time I wanted to scream my lungs out about the fucking level of utter bullshit we inflict on ourselves. I love Chicagoans, but shit, Chicago cops and Chicago justice need to get tossed in the trash.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#168
It is doubly tragic because the process of obtaining evidence with a rape kit is invasive, time consuming, and uncomfortable when done by a sensitive and properly trained examiner. Very often the examiners were men who were openly hostile to the victims, and many women refused to be examined when they discovered what was involved.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#169
post #112
post #6

> but because it's sexual assault, for whatever reason, it's very easy for some folks to sweep this under the rug Wow. Just wow. I get that resources are limited and they must prioritize. But to view sexual assault as a low-priority item is just sick.

Considering how much the USA spends in weapons - both for its own campaigns around the world and donations to “friends” - it’s somewhat ridiculous that the countries’ state cannot scrape enough pocket change to contain delinquency and protect its own citizens at home

The first thing makes money, the second just improves lives. Guess which is a priority in the halls of power?

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a young daughter and information like this kind of terrifies me. Teach your child that hugs and kisses require mutual consent. Teach her it is her choice and kissing someone once does not obligate her to future kisses. Tell her if someone disrespects her no to come get a parent. Tell friends and relatives of yours no for her if they try to insist she is obligated to give hugs and kisses. Being dragged off into…

I hear most perpetrators of sexual assault are men, shouldn’t your advice be more effective at prevention/avoidance if directed at sons instead?

Perpetrators of all crimes are mostly men. Sexual assault perpetrated by men isn't out of proportion with theft or murder perpetrated by men.
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