Slog
News & ArtsThursday, September 13, 2012
The Ladies AZ Judge to Sexual Assault Victim: "When you blame others, you give up your power to change."
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 8:01 AM
Good morning, Slog! Had your cup of joe yet? Ready to be horrified???
Last summer, a drunk Arizona police officer named Robb Gary Evans drove himself to a bar, flashed his badge to avoid paying cover at the door, and then walked up behind a woman, put his hand up her skirt, and ran his fingers over her genitals.
...Yet, while Judge Hatch apparently did not view the disgraced former cop’s actions as particularly serious, she had some very harsh words for the woman he assaulted: Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.
“If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you,” Hatch said.
AND: “I hope you look at what you’ve been through and try to take something positive out of it,” Hatch said to the victim in court. “You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability.”
AND: “When you blame others, you give up your power to change,” Hatch said.
Remember, ladies: If you wear skirts or drink in bars in Arizona and are assaulted, you are not a victim. You should expect stranger's fingers to be shoved uninvited up your vagina, just as you should be grateful to learn some important lessons about friendship and vulnerability afterward. (And if you don't like it, grow a penis.)
Hat tip, Adam.
2
You have to give it to Arizona: they are going full steam ahead to become worse than Florida. No half measures here.
Unreal, though.
Unreal, though.
3
Just when you thought the Arizona crazies couldn't get any worse.
People are always dumping on the South, where I live, and they often do it with good reason. Thank goodness Arizona is around to show that we don't have a monopoly on crazies!
People are always dumping on the South, where I live, and they often do it with good reason. Thank goodness Arizona is around to show that we don't have a monopoly on crazies!
5
This follows other right wing attempts to make rape a passable offense. From laws forcing things into women's vaginas to rewriting the definition of rape, Republicans and their ilk like rape. No, I take that back. They LOVE rape.
9
Oh sweet Jane- I just was reading it aloud to someone and noticed the "judge" was also female... WTF is up with these misogynist AZ women?? I keep asking if this is some sort of subversive, uber-meta contest for last place?
10
The more time I spend in the company of judges, the less respect I have for their profession.
So many judges are actually so, so foolish.
So many judges are actually so, so foolish.
12
You're all ignoring that part of the AZ constitution that says female citizens have a duty to keep their vaginas out of the way of creepy sex offenders while they're trying to do their rapey acts.
13
200 N. San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 679-7551
Could not find an email, oddly enough, but only looked a few minutes. She did offer an apology by the way, but it is one of those bullshit right-wing "I am sorry you were offended" apologies.
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 679-7551
Could not find an email, oddly enough, but only looked a few minutes. She did offer an apology by the way, but it is one of those bullshit right-wing "I am sorry you were offended" apologies.
14
Wait, wait, wait. I have the perfect solution. A woman may enter a bar and not be molested, as long as she is sitting down with a table between her and any ... ugh ... handsy and definitely unwanted attention.
The so-called judge OTOH is just a douche-baguette. Ugh, again.
The so-called judge OTOH is just a douche-baguette. Ugh, again.
15
(@10, and note this judge was put up for the job by Arizona's Judicial Nominating Committee, then APPOINTED by Jan Fucking Brewer. We complain in this state about how shitty it is that we elect our judges, but this is the shitty other flip side of the shitty coin. If we switch to appointments, a Governor McKenna, for example, would leave a legacy as full of Richard Sandersiness as he could manage.)
And from the linked original article, aaaaaaugh:
And from the linked original article, aaaaaaugh:
A woman who said she was a former intimate partner of Evans told the judge that the behavior was completely out of character for the defendant.http://azdailysun.com/news/local/crime-a…
"His losses at this point go farther than anything that could be handed down here," she said.
The woman said Evans has lost his job and will likely lose his house because of it. She also said that because he's now a felon, he will have lost the ability to hunt, which numerous "hunting buddies" told the court was one of Evans' chief passions.
16
Oh thank you, Cienna. For a second there I was almost feeling good about life and the world in general.
17
He didn't worry much about how illegal it was to stick his hand up someone's skirt, so I don't see why he's going to worry about the illegality of felons goin' huntin'.
18
@15, good point. The quality of judges is going to somewhat reflect the process. It shouldn't be a popularity contest, but appointment by Jan Brewer is worse than voting. It's not going to be popular in here, but a panel of the bar association would do a better job - not that the Republicans wouldn't find a way corrupt and wreck that process as well.
19
You know the story of the woman in Turkey that shot her rapist 15 times and then cut his head off and threw it in the public square and yelled ""Here is the head of the man who played with my honor." Something like that is going to happen in the States. At some point a woman with a gun is going to flip out.
21
Wow, that's the sound of justice.
"When you blame others [for raping, murdering, robbing you], you give up your power to change."
"If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this [forcing their hands inside your twat kinda stuff] would have happened to you."
I always thought criminal activity was criminal activity. Of course, if this guy was just a Mexican it would be an entirely different matter.
"When you blame others [for raping, murdering, robbing you], you give up your power to change."
"If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this [forcing their hands inside your twat kinda stuff] would have happened to you."
I always thought criminal activity was criminal activity. Of course, if this guy was just a Mexican it would be an entirely different matter.
23
Brendan-I feel the same way. Which is a challenge since I'm an attorney who spends most of her time in a courtroom. The law is a bit like religion, I love the belief system but I have some real problems with its followers.
26
Just another dismissal of drunk, rapey men as a natural phenomenon, like a flood or a tornado. If only that women had not put herself "in harm's way"...because as everyone knows, rapey men are a blind, agentless force of nature.
27
Ignatz @26: I borrowed your comment and used it on the link to this story on my Facebook. Thank you!
28
So let me make a prediction: Arizona is going to be the first state in the Union where a rapist will defend himself in court by claming the woman he allegedly raped kept grabbing his cock with her vagina over and over again!
And I guess we will see this happen sometime in 2013.
And I guess we will see this happen sometime in 2013.
29
I'm not gonna do this. But I would probably get a nice smirk if I read in the paper that someone had said the exact same thing to this judge as they stood over his prone body and shot him in the knee cap.
30
Any DB who shoves his hand up MY skirt will learn a lesson about Broken Fingers and Sprained Wrists - and quite possibly bloody noses too... Some guys in some NYC night clubs learned some lessons the hard way back in the day :D
31
Just realized I used the male pronoun, and this was a female judge. I didn't catch that detail.
Stunning. Simply stunning.
Stunning. Simply stunning.
32
@5, if it's love, is it still rape?
@15, he's going to lose his house? Well then, I guess we should send him to jail so he has a roof over his head.
@15, he's going to lose his house? Well then, I guess we should send him to jail so he has a roof over his head.
34
The probation-plus-community-service sentence handed down I could live with, seeing as the guy has already lost his job as a result of his crime. But really, not having to register as a sex offender? He sexually assaulted someone, and is therefore by most definitions a sex offender. How in the world does he get to stay off the list?
Of course, given the judge's propensity for blaming the victim, I'm saddened but not surprised.
Of course, given the judge's propensity for blaming the victim, I'm saddened but not surprised.
35
@17 "He didn't worry much about how illegal it was to stick his hand up someone's skirt, so I don't see why he's going to worry about the illegality of felons goin' huntin'."
That only works if his excuse in _both_ instances is his excessive drinking.
That only works if his excuse in _both_ instances is his excessive drinking.
36
@23 Considering the job they do and the fact that they're only human, I don' think judges are as bad as all that. People who wield power responsibly are few and far between.
37
So the AZ judge is coming out in favor of people beating any man who comes with in arms' reach of their female friends? Cool, next time I go to a bar in AZ (not at all likely to ever happen), I'll bring a cosh.
38
The only thing more disgusting than the pig and the judge are the libs on this thread who are pimping this as a reason to vote Marxist-Leninist. Osama Obama is raping this whole country every day, up the butt with no lube, and yet you libs love it and gleefully go ATM.
40
Shame on the dishonorable Judge Hatch for blaming the victim of her sexual assault. SHAME. And the judge could use an English lesson, too.
Incorrect: "If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you."
Correct: "If you hadn't been there that night, none of this would have happened to you."
Incorrect: "If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you."
Correct: "If you hadn't been there that night, none of this would have happened to you."
41
More dirt on Judge Hatch: not sure what this is about exactly, but maybe she has some issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ZoflDRx…
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