WHAT A HEEL!: Judge Sued Over Censorship In Sex Assault Trial
The 24-year old plaintiff in a sexual assault case is suing Lancaster County (NE) District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront because he violated her free speech rights by barring the words "rape," "victim," "assailant" and "sexual assault" from testimony in the trial of Pamir Safi, 34, over concerns that the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial might be jeopardized if a jury heard those words. The plaintiff testified for almost 13 hours during Safi’s first trial – often having to pause to make sure a banned word didn’t slip out while she was trying to explain what happened. Cheuvront declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, and declared a second mistrial during jury selection in July because of widespread media coverage and the resulting public protest on the plaintiff’s behalf, reports The Associated Press. Prosecutors plan to seek a third trial. Assuming the plaintiff is testifying truthfully, The Stiletto hopes that at this trial the judge allows the plaintiff to use whatever words she thinks are necessary to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that what happened to her was not consensual. A plaintiff’s constitutional rights are as important as a defendant’s.
This is an excellent example of the following:
1. The plaintiff's constitutional rights have been violated;
2. The plaintiff's body may have been violated;
3. The system of justice has been violated.
And the following question has to be asked:
How many times have rapists' rights been considered above victims' (of rapes) rights?
Reply to this
Couldn't agree more. This is one of the most egregious case of a defendant's rights trumping a victim's rights ever. The judge in this case should be removed from his post and disbarred. Maybe if our criminal justice sytem dealt with such rogue judges and DAs the way Nifong was dealt with, we'd have fewer activist judges and more justice for victims and their families.
Reply to this