stevesbets

One of the eclectic dinner table conversations we had in Long Beach Island concerned rape laws in this country. Someone “in the legal know” explained to us that recently rape laws have become more favorable for victims as there previously needed to be some sort of corroboration to an allegation in order to secure a conviction. Now an uncorroborated allegation is legally sufficient to send a man to jail for life (if the jury believes the victim). Additionally rape shield laws prevent the defendant from examining the victims past (possibly sketchy) behavior in front of a jury.

At the risk of alienating most of my (probably very few) female readers, I find these laws to be pretty outrageous and sort of ignorant of all the evil in the world. Psychopaths are capable of coming off so well and lying in such a cool, convincing matter that Ted Bundy was thought to be a future senator when he was in high school. While the traditional view of a psychopath is that he is male, as we in the poker world know, there are many female ones as well. These people can be charming and convincing, certainly sly enough to convince a jury that somebody raped them. The fact that a psychopath heavy on vendetta and light on evidence can end a mans life by simply being a convincing liar on the stand terrifies me. Further, for the defense to not be able to delve into the alleged victims past seems to render the “he” impotent in any sort of “he said, she said” debate.

One of my friends sisters friends (and hopefully my friend now too though maybe not due to this discussion) took exception to my opinion and felt that the laws were appropriate since it has historically been difficult for women to report rapes. I sympathize with the plight of women and any other protected classes, but I simply cannot stomach the fact that a potentially crazy woman (or man for that matter) has so much power over anyone he/she hates simply because he/she is a very good liar.