John Grisham says sentencing for child porn offenders is too harsh

[Gilmourgirl]

I'm a pacifist but these type of people do the worst crime imaginable. There's nothing worst than harming children in such a way. They deserve a painful death. They never change nor do they see anything wrong with what they do.

[ikmccall]

Grisham can DIAF.

[tulip]

Rosie O'Donnell had a few choice words for Mr. Grisham on The View yesterday. At the end of her rant, she suggested the FBI take a look at his hard drive, just like some of you suggested. I had to laugh a little.

Over the summer I caught up on a few old Grisham books -- easy reads, entertaining, good summer reading. But I won't read another one of his books again. Now he screams "creep" to me.

[Tati]

So he was looking at girls who were actually 16 (or 12, as it turns out) but looked 30, huh? I don't think I've ever, ever heard of a market for such a thing. That's some bullfuckityshit right there.

[SoCalMarie]

If that interview isn't a "Hey guys, look at my computer history" red flag to the Feds to keep an eye Grisham.... I don't know what is. [/sarcasm font]

It's like he's saying: "What's wrong with look at 16 year-olds? I mean, if they look 30, so what's the problem?"

Clear computer history or not, he's a creep regardless... Never was a fan, never will be...

[SoCalMarie]

I read a lot of tech/cyber crime stuff too. You're probably thinking of Tor, right? Although I gather there's other technology and know-how for accessing the hidden web. Anybody read about the whole Silk Road bust? It was a website accessible with the Tor browser, basically like Amazon or Ebay for criminals. You could buy drugs, guns, a hit....all very civilized, doncha know. I'm sure something else along these lines will come along, since by all accounts the Tor underworld is pretty deserted since the latest round of FBI activity.

Also, am I the only person who ever found Second Life a bit creepy?

Yep, Silk Road, Silk Road 2.0... there are at least a couple more "popular" underground browsers that I'm sure will come to light (get busted) in the near future. I was reading up on an Ebay-like underground site for stolen identities the other day (people auction off your personal information, pre made ID cards, etc. - based on your credit score, your location... etc.) It's all so.... scary.


And yes, I've always thought Second Life was/is super creepy. They made a movie loosely based on it, which made it even more creepy to me - "Gamer" with Gerard Butler, his wife in the movie, to make extra money is a "Second Life"- like character, with this gross guy controlling her. It was an alright movie. Not my typical genre, but the boyfriend made me watch it with him. I only agreed because Michael C. Hall is in it too (eye candy ).

[witchcurlgirl]

He sounds like a creep, but the last time I checked being a creep wasn't a crime and doesn't warrant the thought police coming in to check on someone's computer.

[Angeli]

How long until he starts backtracking?

He'll need to sober up first.

[witchcurlgirl]

Btw- creep or not, lots of people agree with Grisham. The federal sentencing on child porn gets a lot of flack:


According to a 2010 survey by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 71 percent of federal judges think the federal mandatory minimum for receipt of child pornography is too severe. Are seven in 10 federal judges perverts and pedophiles too? Should their homes also be raided by the FBI? Do they also have no regard for the victimization of children?.......

...A variety of stakeholders in the federal criminal justice system, including the Department of Justice, the defense bar, and many in the federal judiciary, are critical of the current non-production penalty scheme. Although these stakeholders are not unanimous concerning the perceived flaws in the penalty scheme, many believe that it fails to adequately differentiate among offenders based on their culpability and sexual dangerousness, needs to be updated to reflect recent changes in typical offense conduct associated with the evolution of computer and Internet technologies, and is too severe for some offenders.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/16/in-defense-of-john-grisham/

[70sRock]

Btw- creep or not, lots of other males who employ rhetoric agree with Grisham. The federal sentencing on child porn gets a lot of flack ...

ftfy

[sputnik]

while i think child porn viewers deserve punishment, it doesn't make sense that someone who views it would get a harsher sentence than someone who actually molests a child, which is often the case. you can say something is fucked up with the system without it making you an apologist or somehow also guilty (and you can do it without defending a perv like grisham did)

[SHELLEE]

If people didn't watch it then the demand wouldn't be there.

[witchcurlgirl]

ftfy

No you didn't. Not at all.

[sputnik]

If people didn't watch it then the demand wouldn't be there.

no but there would be the same number of pervs out there molesting children, the only difference is less of them would put their videos of it online.

[Chalet]

i dumped a guy once after looking at his history and seeing barely legal teen type shit. it wasn't actual child porn, but young young looking chicks pretending to be young teens. the creeped the fuck out of me enough to break up with him. was i being too judgy? i dunno. i think it starts with 'legal' fantasy shit then when that gets tired, that's when people start going for the real thing. it's like desensitizing.

You reminded me of a when my girlfriend called to meet her for lunch immediately. She told me exactly what you wrote. She was married for a couple of months in the early 2000's whenever that new Mac laptop came out because she bought it and he'd use it occasionally. She was looking up something in the history and saw a few barely legal sites. Not to delete that stuff on your wife's home computer...? We went back to her apt and she showed me. What struck me was that these girls looked like male twinks. I wasn't aware of that kind of pornography. I don't think it came up again and I don't remember if she mentioned it to him, but she was the type that would have mentioned it.