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shuel2002 65F
5090 posts
7/19/2017 1:42 am
DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES?


I was just reading ET's interesting post and it reminded me of how some crimes have a statute of limitations and other crimes don't. I don't agree with it in the case of violent crimes. Bill Cosby comes to mind. Out of all his accusers, only 1 was allowed to bring charges due to the statute of limitations. How fair is that? I personally don't agree with it. Yes it is hard to remember details and it does make it more difficult to prove a case because humans can't retain everything, however, I think every victim deserves their day in court. What do you think?

I am equally disgusted by double jeopardy. Nobody can be tried for the same crime twice. That means someone like O. J. Simpson can come out and admit he killed Nicole and Ron and not be held accountable. How does that make sense? The criminal system needs some serious revisions in my opinion. What do you think?


Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 2:23 am

Bump.

Elaine Shuel


starwomyn 70F
8871 posts
7/19/2017 3:21 am

I remember the Rodney King case. The cops were changed and acquitted at the first trial. Rioting resulted. They were tried AGAIN with the charge of violating Rodney King's civil rights. I have to question why they were not charged for that at that the first time. That appears to be double jeopardy. Double Jeopardy protects the accused from being tried over and over again by a prosecutor is determined to win regardless of guilt or innocent. The prosecutor has to prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. All the defense has to do is establish a shadow of a doubt.

Abracadabra


bijou624

7/19/2017 4:50 am

In Canada criminal charges are laid by the police and the victim is just a witness and only if necessary. In civil cases there has to be statutes of limitations for several reasons. If someone sued you for something they claim happened years ago, it would be too difficult to remember details and defend yourself not even knowing you might be sued sometime in the future, while the plaintiff had years to prepare a case against you.

The trial of O.J. is a good example of why I have no faith in the jury system. How many innocent people are sitting in jail all because of the way they looked, the clothes they wore in the courtroom, their voice, their likeability and their lawyer's likeability?


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:16 pm

    Quoting starwomyn:
    I remember the Rodney King case. The cops were changed and acquitted at the first trial. Rioting resulted. They were tried AGAIN with the charge of violating Rodney King's civil rights. I have to question why they were not charged for that at that the first time. That appears to be double jeopardy. Double Jeopardy protects the accused from being tried over and over again by a prosecutor is determined to win regardless of guilt or innocent. The prosecutor has to prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. All the defense has to do is establish a shadow of a doubt.
I do understand the reasoning behind Double Jeopardy but there are times that it just doesn't make sense. There should be something in the law to allow for circumstances where it should be waived. Thanks for your comment.

Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:20 pm

    Quoting bijou624:
    In Canada criminal charges are laid by the police and the victim is just a witness and only if necessary. In civil cases there has to be statutes of limitations for several reasons. If someone sued you for something they claim happened years ago, it would be too difficult to remember details and defend yourself not even knowing you might be sued sometime in the future, while the plaintiff had years to prepare a case against you.

    The trial of O.J. is a good example of why I have no faith in the jury system. How many innocent people are sitting in jail all because of the way they looked, the clothes they wore in the courtroom, their voice, their likeability and their lawyer's likeability?
I do understand why there is a statute of limitations but in the case of violent crimes, I don't believe there should be one. Murder details would also be more vague many years later but there is no statute of limitations on that. In the case of a civil suit it's about money. That doesn't disturb me to the extent of someone like Bill Cosby getting away with most of what he is accused of doing. Thanks for your response, bijou. I definitely agree with you about O. J. Simpson's murder trial and how a jury trial isn't the best.

Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:22 pm

    Quoting  :

I'm Canadian so we don't pardon anyone. I don't think forgiveness has anything to do with the statute of limitations. If someone commits a violent crime especially premeditated, they need to be held accountable. Thanks for your response, Leaf.

Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:25 pm

    Quoting  :

Sadly how good the lawyer is always counts. I know someone who has a friend whose child was murdered. The guilty party got away with it due to a technicality his lawyer found. That is a true crime that the criminal system allows that to happen. The mother spent the rest of her life with no peace whatsoever.

Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:27 pm

    Quoting  :

Yes the sentence he received was pathetic. The legal system in the USA and Canada isn't just. I remember taking business law for my degree and the first thing the teacher told us was that laws are not fair. I was shocked she said that but she was definitely correct. Thanks ET.

Elaine Shuel


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 12:34 pm

    Quoting  :

OMG, I knew Bill Clinton is a womanizer, as does everyone else. I had no idea he was guilty of the crimes you just discussed. Thanks for your comment. Fossil.

Elaine Shuel


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
7/19/2017 2:27 pm

    Quoting shuel2002:
    OMG, I knew Bill Clinton is a womanizer, as does everyone else. I had no idea he was guilty of the crimes you just discussed. Thanks for your comment. Fossil.
Fossil has listed instances where Bill Clinton was accused of these crimes, not that he was found guilty of them......


starwomyn 70F
8871 posts
7/19/2017 5:36 pm

The problem with 11th hour accusations is that they are very difficult to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt. It may be a lost cost to try and prosecute a crime committed past the statute of limitations. Both Trump and Clinton faced 11th hour accusations. It didn't stop either of them from being President.

Abracadabra


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/19/2017 6:05 pm

    Quoting sparkleflit:
    Fossil has listed instances where Bill Clinton was accused of these crimes, not that he was found guilty of them......
Good point but like with Bill Cosby, where there is smoke, there is usually fire.

Elaine Shuel


starwomyn 70F
8871 posts
7/20/2017 12:40 am

    Quoting shuel2002:
    Good point but like with Bill Cosby, where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
Smoke can be circumstantial evidence but not when it happen beyond the statue of limitations. It's hard to find the fire when the smoke has blown away.

Abracadabra


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
7/20/2017 2:13 pm

In the 90s I worked with a lot of women who were sexually abused as children. Before the 90s, there was very little support for children in these situations Social attitudes were mostly that these matters should stay within the family and be dealt with there, but within most families where this occurred, denial, cover ups and shame kept the reality from being consciously realized by the child. There was no vocabulary, no frame of reference.....It was so painful....such deep injury,such profound betrayal, that the child buried it, filed it in their memory banks along with fantasy, dreams and imagination, blurred the edges of meaning in order to survive.

The pioneers of the movement had a huge amount of societal prejudice to push through. The legal system was mostly made up of men who were loyal to Patriarchal conformity and so blamed the victims.......blamed little girls for their own ra*pes......suggesting they had been sexually provocative, etc.

Then there was there was the "False Memory" controversy that raged for a few years, started by a prominent California Psychotherapist who insisted that children don't repress memories of childhood trauma and that they made it up to get attention..........That caught on for years......

Then boys started accusing priests and it all snowballed. The courts were inundated and changes were made.....Still, there are the statutes of limitations that really impact the sexual abuse crimes........The courts sometimes try to get around it by re-labelling, but there are other factors besides punishing the perpetrator. There is also taking care of the victim.

In Canada, the statute of limitations affects the availability of Therapy for the survivors........That was the most common frustration for the victims. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse as well as adult r*pe victim sustain psychic injuries that profoundly affect their lives. Therapy is crucial and very expensive. The government assists victims of crimes with the cost of therapy.........but there is a time limitation......If the crime was committed before a certain date, victims are not eligible for assistance.........Really heartbreaking for people in crisis whose memories have surfaced and are wreaking havoc in their lives.


shuel2002 65F
5537 posts
7/20/2017 7:22 pm

    Quoting sparkleflit:
    In the 90s I worked with a lot of women who were sexually abused as children. Before the 90s, there was very little support for children in these situations Social attitudes were mostly that these matters should stay within the family and be dealt with there, but within most families where this occurred, denial, cover ups and shame kept the reality from being consciously realized by the child. There was no vocabulary, no frame of reference.....It was so painful....such deep injury,such profound betrayal, that the child buried it, filed it in their memory banks along with fantasy, dreams and imagination, blurred the edges of meaning in order to survive.

    The pioneers of the movement had a huge amount of societal prejudice to push through. The legal system was mostly made up of men who were loyal to Patriarchal conformity and so blamed the victims.......blamed little girls for their own ra*pes......suggesting they had been sexually provocative, etc.

    Then there was there was the "False Memory" controversy that raged for a few years, started by a prominent California Psychotherapist who insisted that children don't repress memories of childhood trauma and that they made it up to get attention..........That caught on for years......

    Then boys started accusing priests and it all snowballed. The courts were inundated and changes were made.....Still, there are the statutes of limitations that really impact the sexual abuse crimes........The courts sometimes try to get around it by re-labelling, but there are other factors besides punishing the perpetrator. There is also taking care of the victim.

    In Canada, the statute of limitations affects the availability of Therapy for the survivors........That was the most common frustration for the victims. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse as well as adult r*pe victim sustain psychic injuries that profoundly affect their lives. Therapy is crucial and very expensive. The government assists victims of crimes with the cost of therapy.........but there is a time limitation......If the crime was committed before a certain date, victims are not eligible for assistance.........Really heartbreaking for people in crisis whose memories have surfaced and are wreaking havoc in their lives.


I wasn't aware of those rules in Canada but that is very sad. All victims should be entitled to the help they need, even if it surfaces much later. Thanks for your informative comment.

Elaine Shuel


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
7/20/2017 9:49 pm

    Quoting  :

Forgiveness is helpful to the perpetrators, but doesn't do much for the victims of the crimes.......especially s*xual crimes, since the perps have a psychological imperative to repeat the criminal behaviour.........In which case a statute of limitations aids and abets more crimes and more victims.


sparkleflit 76F
10271 posts
7/20/2017 10:02 pm

    Quoting  :

So you think that everyone who is accused is guilty, or just those who Fossil thinks are guilty?.......Fossil appoints himself judge and jury......