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ladies against women misogyny sexual assault victim blaming

Arizona Judge to sexual abuse victim: “I hope you look at what you’ve been through and try to take something positive out of it. …You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability.”

Judge Hatch

In keeping with the “women who hate women” theme we sort of had going last week, let’s take a quick look at Arizona Judge Jacqueline Hatch. Judge Hatch, you see, presided over a recent case involving a Flagstaff, Arizona police officer who was found guilty of sexually abusing a woman in a bar. According to the Arizona Daily Sun,

Prosecutors contended that he drank eight beers and then drove himself to the Green Room, where he flashed his badge in an attempt to get into a concert for free. While inside, he walked up behind the victim, who was a friend of a friend, put his hand up her skirt and then ran his fingers across her genitals.

When bouncers threw him out, Evans told them he was a cop and they would be arrested.

The cop faced up to two years in jail for his assault. But Hatch apparently felt the officer, who’d lost his job and served four whole days in jail, had already been punished enough for his crime, and let him off with two years of probation.

She also gave the victim a patronizing little lecture. Again, according to the Daily Sun,

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.

Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.

 “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.”

Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.

 “When you blame others, you give up your power to change,” Hatch said that her mother used to say.

Hatch has now offered a half-assed apology for her remarks, saying, in part:

As a Coconino County Superior Court judge, it is my responsibility to ensure that all victims and defendants are treated fairly and in a respectful manner in the courtroom. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously. I also believe victims should not be blamed for coming forward to report crimes.

In a recent case, my in-court comments to the victim at sentencing did not further these important tenets. My comments were poorly communicated and for that, I am truly sorry if they caused the victim further distress.

No, you communicated pretty clearly. The problem is what you communicated.

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Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

This just keeps getting more and more pathetic. Do you some kind of compulsive need to troll here, Pell? If so I’d suggest you see a therapist. And unlike you, I’m actually serious when I say that.

CassandraSays
CassandraSays
12 years ago

But what if the therapist isn’t nie to him?

Tulgey Logger
Tulgey Logger
12 years ago

@CassandraSays, I’m sure that wouldn’t be an issue, as Pelli would only go to the most qualified science guy.

Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
12 years ago

Let’s face it. Females are always thinking about sex and go around giving the impression that they want the old in-out in-out. There’s noch things a rape in Nature. It’s simply mating and the male determines when the female is nubile and ripe. Just as wacko feminists claim that it’s rape halfway through sex if a man doesn’t stop the opposite is true. A female may decide while getting fucked that she changed her mind and that she likes this rape stuff and it’s not really rape now. You dykes wouldn’t understand that. Or that mature orgasms are all vaginal not clit tickling kid’s stuff.

Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

Y’know, what pisses me off the most about this whole “Well you should expect bad things to happen if you’re a woman out public because blah blah victim blaming blah.” in this case is that the dude in question is a fucking cop. It’s his fucking job to protect from being assaulted, in public or otherwise.

Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

Yes yes, we’re all suitably shocked and appalled, sweetie. Run along and play now, Pell dear.

Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
12 years ago

Do you arsehole losers live on this blog with you leader Fruitloops Futrelle? It seems that you roaches come out of the woodwork if I make a comment here. Don’t any of you cripples have jobs or all you all living off men’s taxes(benefits)

Cliff Pervocracy (@pervocracy)

Pell, going to a feminist board and yelling “YAY RAPE!” is not the moral equivalent of going to a Yankees board and yelling “YANKEES SUCK!”

I mean, they’re both fucking infantile, but you could at least show a little goddamn taste in your infantile trolling.

Cliff Pervocracy (@pervocracy)

Do you arsehole losers live on this blog with you leader Fruitloops Futrelle?

Well, remember it’s a little more convenient for us, because we don’t have to make up a new fake name every time we post.

Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
12 years ago

Dracula, you and the other cunts have cried wolf too often and now we men don’t give a fuck. We sit on juries and will never again convict a man of anything and we don’t gove a fuck what you or any judge or DA think beccause they can do nothing about it 🙂

Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
12 years ago

Cliff, why don’t you use your female sex name? Are you so masculine looking that no one believes you’re a female? You’re male or female. 2 choices

Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

“We men…”? Learn who you’re talking to before you make your empty threats, loser.

Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
12 years ago

Tugger Loser-shutt he fuck up you moron. You’re a sick loser crippled in your body and brain. Go ride the fatmobile

Tulgey Logger
Tulgey Logger
12 years ago

Pell called me a loser. I’m gonna have to walk this one off, everyone.

*tries not to cry

She Wolf of the Midwest
She Wolf of the Midwest
12 years ago

I remember reading in a book once that, while women of all races , sizes, and ages are at risk for sexual assault , the AVERAGE rape victim was 19, 5′ 2″, and 110 lbs. The average American women , per the CDC, is 5′ 3 3/4″ and weighs 148 lbs. No, I don’t have a link; that’s from memory from a book I read years ago (first Clinton administration?)

Possibly from the same book: It seems that after age 25 a woman’s risk of being sexually assaulted lowers, mostly because women of that age begin “lifestyle changes” (making more money at their job, getting married and hence living in two-income households) that lets them move into safer neighborhoods. Their rate of sexual assault continues to decline…Until about age 55, when the rate slowly begins to rise again, leaving widows in their 70s at a high rate of risk . Seems lots of ‘career criminals’ like to use old women for practice. 🙁

Sorry there’s no link, but there’s two more anecdotes for the Vulnerability Thesis.

As for this judge, this story has been covered pretty heavily the last few days, including over at FARK. On the article posted there, a commenter posted a link to youtube videos on this judge. Seems she has had her daughter jailed , and is trying to seize her grandson from her daughter and son in law. Granted, we don’t know the back story and what led to these actions , but judging from the poor little boy’s reaction to the judge, it’s hard to feel anything but sympathy for him and his parents:

What the judge said to the victim and her favoritism towards police is worthy of great criticism, but if she’s abusing the powers of her office as a weapon over her family, then I say it’s time for a thorough investigation, and if guilty, removal from office .

ShadetheDruid
ShadetheDruid
12 years ago

Rage of the Pell
As a swift action, during Rage, the character may attempt to insult a target (or many targets) within hearing range and cause them to become angry and focus on the character. The character rolls an Intimidate check vs the target(s) Sense Motive, and if successful, the target(s) must shift their attention to the character and become angered. If the Intimidate check fails, however, the target(s) are free to ignore (or laugh at) the character.

This check may be attempted as many times as possible (once per round as long as their Rage persists), but the character takes a -5 penalty to the check on each of their subsequent attempts (this is cumulative).

Tulgey Logger
Tulgey Logger
12 years ago

I mean, I realize you’re a hateful, frothing, racist, ignorant bigot, but why can’t you even appreciate a simple Bill Nye joke, Pell? That’s low.

Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

Some people just have no joy in their hearts.

Dracula
Dracula
12 years ago

Also Shade? For the record, you are awesome. Just sayin’.

blitzgal
12 years ago

One thing needs to be pointed out in this story. A jury of this man’s peers found him guilty of sexual assault. The judge took it upon herself to give him a slap on the wrist. Thankfully, his employers rightfully decided that a drunk driving sexual assaulting cop is probably NOT the best option for a peace officer and fired his ass.

Effie
Effie
12 years ago

There’s something to be said for the whole “looking vulnerable means more creeps target you.” [My anecdata, let me show you it] This past week I’ve been sick from changes in my medication (I have a disability), and it shows. In the past five days I’ve been street harassed by three different men, all of them alone. Typically I get catcalled on the street maybe once per month, when I’m dressed nicely for work and there’s a group of them to back each other up. One of them two nights ago tried to “hey baby” me while I was wearing cargo pants and a hoodie coming out of CVS, ffs. The sad thing is that I was feeling so sick and miserable this week I didn’t even care enough to get up in their faces, take their picture, and mock them like I usually do. I just threw up a hand and said something to the effect of, “Whatever, pencil dick,” and kept walking.

It’s really quite a shame that these men never learned the whole “keep your hands to yourself” thing the rest of us are taught in kindergarten. Or that “personal responsibility” thing that conservatives and libertarians are always going on about. Funny how that shit only ever seems to apply to women and poor people, typically poor POC.

Tulgey Logger
Tulgey Logger
12 years ago

I’m beginning to think that vaginal orgasms and hatred are Pell’s only true joys.

Also Shade? For the record, you are awesome. Just sayin’.

Seconded.

Effie
Effie
12 years ago

I’m beginning to think that vaginal orgasms and hatred are Pell’s only true joys.

I think Pell is just jealous that many of us women can have orgasms a few different ways, while he’s stuck with his hand. Poor thing.

Naira
Naira
12 years ago

*sigh* I was at the local GAY bar with a bunch of other women and our group STILL got grabbed at and felt up buy guys. I’m pretty sure this was a pretty stable group of asshats who would just go to the local bars and clubs to find women to have sex with. One would think they’d notice that it was a gay bar (the only one in town), but I guess they didn’t care.

One of the guys grabbed me around the waist from behind (never saw the guy) and then his hands started creeping towards my breasts. At which point I worked my elbow back to the center of his chest (roughly) and shoved. It worked. But seriously, the whole group was groped en masse and we ended up pulling together and away from these guys. I felt like a sheep.

What ticks me off about this judge is that it’s just another bit of evidence to show that the system is against some people and for others. It’s bad enough knowing that you can get grabbed or harassed by random strangers just for being in public and that that behavior will be defended by people. It’s pretty shitty to see it in action by someone with so much power.

internallydisplaced
12 years ago

Adorable! Pell is playing insult bingo. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ablism oh my. He fell apart wonderfully fast.

She Wolf, I’ve also heard the very loose combined stats on the changing risks of assault for women at various ages; there have been a number of terrifying and horrible reports of older women being assaulted, robbed or killed in their own homes in the UK and this problem has been cited.

And on vulnerability: I’d like to emphasise that in my experience, it’s not just emotional vulnerability that gets picked up on by wankers; I use a walking stick frequently, and it never fails to attract creeps, particularly of the “oh no what have you DONE to yourself” variety with their overly “helpful” hands.