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I know it's supposed to be the principle but it becomes extremely hard for me to care once I find out the guy is a convicted child rapist.
convicted child rapist
The judgment says he's a sex offender, which is far broader than "child rapist." You can be labeled a sex offender for urinating in public in some jurisdictions. Where are you seeing "child rapist"?
https://casetext.com/case/people-v-rivers-229
Someone posted this in a comment on the thread.
see also court docs: https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y9YFEkKsI8C&pg=PP3&lpg=PP3&dq=%22anthony+gene+rivers%22&source=bl&ots=X5zVKCb06c&sig=ACfU3U1wlHAjfaHHxMZSt1yELtgB5_M71g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZibPEg7HuAhWQFlkFHVlZCxoQ6AEwBXoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=%22anthony%20gene%20rivers%22&f=false
Ahh. I understand the revulsion, but on the other hand, it was 1978, and lifetime punishments of this nature can't really be squared with any serious attempt at decarceration. There are certainly better ways to protect the public from any danger this guy presents than throwing him in prison for another decade.
It also looks like he has a pattern of representing himself, which is an easy way to get convicted even if the evidence isn't beyond a reasonable doubt. For example (from that first link):
At the outset of trial on May 22, 2014 the court asked Rivers how he expected to proceed with trial if he could not read the witness list the prosecutor had provided. Rivers responded, "They're just witnesses. I can cross-examine them without knowing who they are." The court urged Rivers to relinquish his self-represented status and allow standby counsel to represent him. Rivers said, "I don't need no standby counsel. Call in the jury."
Holy fucking shit, you could get convicted of damn near anything with that approach.
The seeming majority of both homeless and sex offenders have poorly functioning mental illness, sad
In Communist China authorities monitor everyones movements and imprison anyone who isn't productive enough.
