Shirley Smith: Two Young Women

This story is a recap of why rapes and abuse to many women in this country don't get reported. The women have already gone through a violation that will last them most of their life, and the trials they have to endure to get justice, end up like this one ... as just another rape and violation, after what they already had to endure. After reading the story of what these "ordinary family kids" (yeah, they were referred to as ordinary families) did to this young woman and the first jury couldn't convict ... I couldn't believe how that was possible.

This story tells many different stories about the real morality of our country if these are "ordinary families." Sex education? This goes way past any sex education classes. This story reminds me of what people do after a childhood of abusing animals. A tape that shows horrible abuse against a young teenager. These three youths from "ordinary families" as they were referred to, raped and penetrated this young woman who drank too much in their presence, with cigarette, Snapple bottle, and a pool cue.

These kids were described as ordinary because they had no records. Well, one of them, the one whose house and film was used, was the son of a millionaire who raised campaign funds for the Sheriff in this story, and this story reveals that he (the Sheriff) went from a Republican hero to many allegations, including campaign funding irregularities and sexual harassment, plus a deputy who was fired because he tried to fool with the evidence. Am I the only one that doesn't find the word Republican odd in this story?

This all sounds like some tawdry paperback on the sale shelf, but it's all true story and the real victims, the two young women, in this story, have paid the full price for the rest of their lives for being women and trusting those men around them, and trusting their community to do the right thing for god sake. It tells about the adults in this community who favored these young men as if to say, the woman asked for it. Unbelievable.

It tells about the defense attorneys in this story who were the ones who put this young woman on trial twice ... now twenty years old and such a young mind and body to have to go through this hell. This story doesn't go into the childhood behavior of these young men, but they should. Instead the young woman was violated again in two trials by the defense attorneys.

The young woman who found the tape and gave it to the police, was harassed for reporting this horrible crime and had to change her name. Her mother is quoted as saying that they have lived in four years of hell. This is so fifties and before. This is so Republican today.

For the accuser, the ordeal was harrowing — a four-year legal process during which defense attorneys picked through her sexual habits, cast her as a sexual predator, and put her ex-friends on the stand to characterize her as a chronic liar.

Reading this story and what these people in this town have done to these two women, after knowing what the state of South Dakota thinks of their women ... the women in this nation need to face the facts that the Bush GOP think of women as nothing more than objects for their pleasure or their pain ... they are throwaways, expendable, like the empty Snapple bottle and snuffed out cigarette butts.

Some months ago, I watched a variety of young women interviewed about their life and their hopes, their dreams, and what I found astonishing in today's world, was that these young woman still held the Cinderella story in their hearts. Young romantics. Today's woman may have sex earlier, activities may change, but their hopes and desires have not changed that much. When I thought they should be thinking about a career for themselves.

To think that a young woman who had to work her way through school, thought there was a chance of being friends and accepted by maybe families she looked up to ... I can't help but think about that morning after. After all of that abuse. What a horrible, painful morning ... physically and emotionally. This story tells what they did to these women, but it leaves too much out about these young, irresponsible men. The only thing they didn't do that would have or could have happened, was to dump her dead body somewhere.

I can't imagine what kind of people would do this, but it has to have some background in how they are raised and how women are respected and treated and how they are taught to treat women, and examine that whole community because of how they treated these two women throughout the two trials.

When a society has a leadership who claims to be the front-running example of the morality of this nation and that leadership outwardly perpetuates and promotes violence, here at home and around the world ... we will beget violence out of impressionable young people. Criminal actions, such as the laws in South Dakota, that lead to men of the same nature wanting to tell women what they can do or not do with their own bodies is a violent act against women. Another rape of their bodies and their minds. A complete disrespect for women.

There is nothing this young women could have done to make the behavior of these men acceptable. Nothing. With a leadership that condones violence and calls it morality ... their so-called violent morality will always become the same morality for some. And, think about the first trial of these men and a jury who couldn't convict with a film of what they did to her ... is there any wonder why these young men could show such scorn for a young woman?

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Shirley Smith is a regular BuzzFlash Reader and Contributor. Many of her earlier posts can be found in the Mailbag.

Ms. Smith Goes to Washington

March 10, 2006		ARCHIVES
Two Young Women Scorned and Scorned and Scorned MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON by Shirley Smith This story is a recap of why rapes and abuse to many women in this country don't get reported. The women have already gone through a violation that will last them most of their life, and the trials they have to endure to get justice, end up like this one ... as just another rape and violation, after what they already had to endure. After reading the story of what these "ordinary family kids" (yeah, they were referred to as ordinary families) did to this young woman and the first jury couldn't convict ... I couldn't believe how that was possible. This story tells many different stories about the real morality of our country if these are "ordinary families." Sex education? This goes way past any sex education classes. This story reminds me of what people do after a childhood of abusing animals. A tape that shows horrible abuse against a young teenager. These three youths from "ordinary families" as they were referred to, raped and penetrated this young woman who drank too much in their presence, with cigarette, Snapple bottle, and a pool cue. These kids were described as ordinary because they had no records. Well, one of them, the one whose house and film was used, was the son of a millionaire who raised campaign funds for the Sheriff in this story, and this story reveals that he (the Sheriff) went from a Republican hero to many allegations, including campaign funding irregularities and sexual harassment, plus a deputy who was fired because he tried to fool with the evidence. Am I the only one that doesn't find the word Republican odd in this story? This all sounds like some tawdry paperback on the sale shelf, but it's all true story and the real victims, the two young women, in this story, have paid the full price for the rest of their lives for being women and trusting those men around them, and trusting their community to do the right thing for god sake. It tells about the adults in this community who favored these young men as if to say, the woman asked for it. Unbelievable. It tells about the defense attorneys in this story who were the ones who put this young woman on trial twice ... now twenty years old and such a young mind and body to have to go through this hell. This story doesn't go into the childhood behavior of these young men, but they should. Instead the young woman was violated again in two trials by the defense attorneys. The young woman who found the tape and gave it to the police, was harassed for reporting this horrible crime and had to change her name. Her mother is quoted as saying that they have lived in four years of hell. This is so fifties and before. This is so Republican today. For the accuser, the ordeal was harrowing — a four-year legal process during which defense attorneys picked through her sexual habits, cast her as a sexual predator, and put her ex-friends on the stand to characterize her as a chronic liar. For a party in July 2002, skinny, fresh-faced Haidl gathered two teenage buddies and a 16-year-old restaurant hostess in the garage of his father's home. The girl drank too much, and according to descriptions of the video in court, the boys took turns on her limp body, using a pool cue, a cigarette and a Snapple bottle. (snip) Though publicly known only as Jane Doe, the victim's identity was hardly a secret in Rancho Cucamonga, where she and the defendants lived. The defense dispatched investigators to check out her past. Fliers turned up in the neighborhood bearing her name and seeking information about her family. She was forced to switch high schools. The lawyer representing her in a civil suit against the defendants, Sheldon Lodmer of Beverly Hills, said the case savaged her self-worth and drove her to drugs, culminating in her arrest in 2004 for methamphetamine possession. She tried college but was too distraught to continue. "I don't even think she made it through a semester," Lodmer said. "The violation to her person that occurred — that's not anything a woman, let alone a girl, should endure." (more) A Brutal Scene Caught on Tape - Los Angeles Times Reading this story and what these people in this town have done to these two women, after knowing what the state of South Dakota thinks of their women ... the women in this nation need to face the facts that the Bush GOP think of women as nothing more than objects for their pleasure or their pain ... they are throwaways, expendable, like the empty Snapple bottle and snuffed out cigarette butts. Some months ago, I watched a variety of young women interviewed about their life and their hopes, their dreams, and what I found astonishing in today's world, was that these young woman still held the Cinderella story in their hearts. Young romantics. Today's woman may have sex earlier, activities may change, but their hopes and desires have not changed that much. When I thought they should be thinking about a career for themselves. To think that a young woman who had to work her way through school, thought there was a chance of being friends and accepted by maybe families she looked up to ... I can't help but think about that morning after. After all of that abuse. What a horrible, painful morning ... physically and emotionally. This story tells what they did to these women, but it leaves too much out about these young, irresponsible men. The only thing they didn't do that would have or could have happened, was to dump her dead body somewhere. I can't imagine what kind of people would do this, but it has to have some background in how they are raised and how women are respected and treated and how they are taught to treat women, and examine that whole community because of how they treated these two women throughout the two trials. When a society has a leadership who claims to be the front-running example of the morality of this nation and that leadership outwardly perpetuates and promotes violence, here at home and around the world ... we will beget violence out of impressionable young people. Criminal actions, such as the laws in South Dakota, that lead to men of the same nature wanting to tell women what they can do or not do with their own bodies is a violent act against women. Another rape of their bodies and their minds. A complete disrespect for women. There is nothing this young women could have done to make the behavior of these men acceptable. Nothing. With a leadership that condones violence and calls it morality ... their so-called violent morality will always become the same morality for some. And, think about the first trial of these men and a jury who couldn't convict with a film of what they did to her ... is there any wonder why these young men could show such scorn for a young woman? Thanks BuzzFlash, Shirley Smith * * * Shirley Smith is a regular BuzzFlash Reader and Contributor. Many of her earlier posts can be found in the Mailbag.