DIGG THIS

In Saudi Arabia, a young woman is violently gang-raped by strangers. Her rapists receive a light punishment, but she receives punishment as well. When she and her lawyer complain about it, her punishment is increased and the lawyer is disciplined for making such a fuss. The rape victim's punishment has yet to be carried out. In the meantime, the whole episode is an international outrage.

In the United States in the State of New York, a young woman is violently raped at knifepoint by a stranger. Her rapist receives a light punishment but she receives punishment as well. When she and her lawyer complain about it, her punishment is increased and the lawyer is disciplined for making such a fuss.

In the United States case, the rape victim is now in prison. Nobody seems to be too worried about it, though, except her and her lawyer.

Don't believe me? It's all a matter of public record. The rape victim's name is Sephora Davis. She was prosecuted in Livingston County, New York by District Attorney Thomas E. Moran under indictment number 2004-276. Mr. Moran explicitly stated in court papers that it didn't matter that Sephora Davis was raped.

The courts of the United States agreed with Mr. Moran and put Sephora Davis in prison, where she remains, at the Albion Correctional Facility. Her inmate number is 07-G-0011.

Her lawyer is…….me.

Supposedly, the reason for the outrage over what occurred in Saudi Arabia is that the regime there "oppresses women". Why is there no outrage over the exact same thing happening in the supposedly much more enlightened People's Republic of New York? Because in theory, we don't oppress women; we just worship the state, and the state's power. We nurture it, feed it, justify it, lie and cheat for it. We adore it and nothing else. So in that context, oppressing women is okay.

You see, Sephora Davis' rapist was an agent of the state — a police informant who, along with his police officer sponsor, falsely implicated her in his own crime — an armed robbery he and two accomplices committed shortly after the rape. By that time Sephora had been drugged and was passed out in the car. That has also never been disputed and is also a matter of public record.

From there, this is how it works in New York. The police informant gets backed up by the police, naturally. Then the District Attorney backs up the police. Then the court backs up the District Attorney. Then the appellate courts back up the lower court. Yes, this is how political power works.

But sometimes it gets embarrassing. I mean, look what has happened in Saudi Arabia.

Of course, Saudi Arabia is an ignorant and backward country. In their courts they publicly acknowledge that the young woman before them was raped and carry out their judicial atrocity in the light of day. What a bunch of rubes.

We in New York are much more sophisticated, so here our judges write court opinions pretending that no one ever said anything about Sephora Davis being raped, then we put her in prison where she gets her number. And now we can forget about it, because she is a "criminal", and who cares about them?

You'd think the "media", the venerable "fourth estate", would be all over this. Think again. The local newspaper barely mentioned the little rape problem — although that is at least more than the courts would do. And in a remarkable inversion of their usual journalistic policy they refused to name the rapist even though they named his victim. I think it's because a rape isn't a rape unless and until the government says so through some authorized "official".

Go to Hillary Clinton, you say? The front-running presidential candidate and junior United States Senator from New York? The feminist ideologue, natural champion of rape victims? Sephora's mother did, but….not a chance. Hillary will spout off about the woman in Saudi Arabia, but the task of siding with a lone constituent against the state's entire legal power structure is politically problematic, even if that constituent is a rape victim. Besides, the Saudis are such an easy target — and so conveniently far away, too.

Hillary understands how political power works. On to the presidency, I guess.

But surely there are appeals and whatnot? Oh, sure — well, sort of. There are endless pleas you can make — all equally meaningless, devoid of substance and futile. In practical terms, it is fair to say that criminal convictions in New York are easy to get and never overturned — at least not for people who are actually innocent. The "system" is broken underneath a hollow façade. How do you think something like this can happen in the first place?

Don't take my word for it, though. It has been scientifically established.

On that subject, while I certainly admire the Innocence Project and their work very much, I have to respectfully disagree with their conclusion that the legislature can do something about the broken system. The problems run far deeper than misinterpreting evidence or misapplying the law. It's more like there's no genuine concept of "evidence" or "law" at all. In most cases, making "arguments" before a judge in New York is like trying to reason with a barbarian, a simple creature that can understand only force: as a general rule, don't bother. And you cannot cure barbarism by passing new laws — barbarians can't really read them.

Fortunately, New York is emptying out of civilized human beings. The young, especially, are leaving in droves. Those few that remain are increasingly fodder for a ludicrously overbuilt and fundamentally parasitic prison system, overfed by petty tyrant prosecutors like Mr. Moran. Of course, the civilized world understands that dysfunctional justice systems go hand-in-hand with the economic decline so painfully evident in the region. But an economy is not grounded in force, so this simple connection is beyond the comprehension of New York in the early 21st century.

We speak only the language of power. And in that language, prosecutors and judges are "public servants" and their victims have prison inmate numbers.

Feminists have long argued that rape is about power, not sex. I used to think that was bullshit.

November 24, 2007

The Best of John M. Regan, Jr.