Penn State scorn versus Michigan State scorn

I don’t blame the guy, but this judge is a joke.

 

If the father really wanted to get a piece of Nassar he would've dove head-first over the table with his right fist balled up and cold-cocked Nassar.

 

It was a stunt. First he asked the judge if he could have time alone with Nassar as a part of his sentencing, knowing full well that wasn't going to happen.

I feel for the guy, but it was a stunt. For the judge not to do anything to punish that behavior in court is a joke.

 

LOL, look at Nassar looking for a hidey hole ...

 

I would have loved to have seen the judge tell the guy that he could have 5 minutes alone in a locked room with him, then see the look on that sick fucks face.

 

There’s always something to make this story worse.

 

I tend to agree but I wonder if the judge avoided doling out a punishment to avoid making him a martyr for the cause.

On the other hand my wife listens to a pod cast that said the judge crossed a line by suggesting she wished she could give the death penalty. So there's that.

 

The judged has crossed a few lines. It's unnecessary.

 

Welcome to the criminal justice system.

 

The judge did cross a line (Judge Aquilina -- the one who was presiding over the Ingham County case -- not the judge in Eaton County where the dad charged at Nassar). The victims did an incredibly powerful job speaking on their own behalf and I applaud Judge Aquilina for letting them do so. But as a judge, she had no business drafting on the victims' own statements, jumping into an advocacy role, riffing on her own life story, repeatedly referencing the media coverage, wishing prison rape on the defendant and delivering "I just signed your death warrant" one-liners straight out of a script from a bad action-flick instead of just letting the impact statements speak for themselves. It was disgusting to see a publicity-hungry judge in a fourth-tier media market (where I happened to grow up) even momentarily detract from what was an empowering catharsis for horribly traumatized young women who deserved and got their chance to confront that piece of shit so she could audition to be the next Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown or Judge Maria Lopez or whatever. And when Judge Aquilina volunteered that she's open for interviews "but only with a victim or two by her side" -- implying that she has no desire to generate publicity for herself -- it came across as a disingenuous PR stunt on its own. I may be completely misreading her and I hope I am, but that's definitely the vibe she put across. Besides, it was totally unnecessary. The victims were such an inspiration on their own and Nassar did get justice. He'll never see the light of day again and his existence in prison is certain to be miserable beyond imagination.

Here's a good blog post, though I do part ways with the author when he argues that she shouldn't have allowed the victim impact statements in the first place (though i do acknowledge the validity of his arguments -- a court proceeding is not about catharsis or closure) or that that the sentence was excessive. Still, I agree with him about Aquilina's grandstanding. It undermines the integrity of the system at a time where we need it the most:

Seaton: Judge Rosemarie’s Baby Advocacy

 

He may very well appeal. I expect it.

One of Nassar's lawyers believes that many women who've said they were abused by him actually weren't, but now believe they were because of the case:

Larry Nassar's lawyer doubts he assaulted all those women - CNN

"There were girls who had perfectly normal lives that never questioned the medical treatment done by Larry Nassar -- and there is a legitimate medical treatment that involves touching sensitive areas and even penetrations. Some of those girls, to be quite frank, they didn't even know what to think because they never felt victimized. He was never inappropriate to them. And because of everything they've seen, they just feel like they must have been victimized. And I think that's really unfortunate."

 

He wasn't convicted of those cases but I don't think his lawyer pulling the "they didn't say anything about it at the time so they probably just think they were abused" card is very productive.