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Hollywood Hoodlums

Randy Quaid – celebrated actor, arrested with his wife in Texas for allegedly skipping out on a substantial hotel tab, and this allegedly isn’t the first time they’ve done it.  Add this one to the list of incredibly-stupid legal problems that celebrities have created for themselves over the years, everything from shoplifting (Winona Ryder) to drugs (too many to mention) to drunk driving (too many to mention) to accidentally shooting themselves while carrying guns illegally (Plaxico Burress).  As I always say, these tend to be really stupid people who tend to have a lot of money and tend to get a lot of adulation and deference from sycophantic fans, so they end up feeling like they can literally do whatever they want.  Props to the cops in Texas for disillusioning the Quaids!  I can’t wait to hear the completely-bogus “I was doing research for a role” defense!

Roman Polanski – acclaimed director, had sex with a 13-year-old girl three decades ago, allegedly drugged her first, fled to Europe, now arrested pending extradition back to the U.S. to finally face a judge in California.  Some in Hollywood are defending this guy, but what’s happening is exactly what should be happening to him!  I don’t care that he’s elderly now; we can’t have a justice system in which you get a pardon if you remain a fugitive long enough.  Some are saying that it’s OK to let Polanski off the hook if the victim’s OK with it.  Nope, can’t do that either.  First of all, we can’t have a justice system that says an adult can have sex with a 13-year-old as long as she doesn’t mind, either at the time or later in life.  The reason it’s a crime in the first place is because the victim, whatever he or she may say later in life, is presumed to be incompetent to consent to sexual activity at that age.  If she wants, I guess she’s free to tell the court that she doesn’t feel harmed by what Polanski did, and I guess the court can take that into account in sentencing if it’s so inclined, but as I understand it, that’d be a reversal of what she said earlier in life when she reportedly received a monetary settlement from Polanski for damage that she alleged he did to her, so I personally wouldn’t give much weight to whatever she says now.  On top of that, the sex crime isn’t the only crime Polanski committed.  He also fled the country, remember?  That’s a crime, too.

(P.S.  These hoodlums aren’t from Hollywood, but there’s been another horrific beating of a Chicago honor student by several of his teenaged peers, resulting in the death of the victim.  As I wrote earlier this year when a similar (thankfully non-fatal) incident happened in the Atlanta area, the attackers’ behavior was crazed, but they weren’t crazy.  It was clearly premeditated – it was videotaped – it was brutal, and it was merciless.  The attackers deserve to be charged as adults and sent to prison for the rest of their lives with no possibility of parole (that’s the max in Illinois).  These are profoundly-dangerous people whom I’ll never feel comfortable having on the streets with me and the people I care about (which includes you).  Plus, as I also recently wrote, the victim’s never going to walk the streets again, so I don’t want to see any of these attackers walking the streets again either.)
By Dr. Brian Russell

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