Less Than Human

  There have been several stories in the news lately about a young man in California, a college student and  swimmer, who was recently convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a fraternity party in January of 2015. This case has received lots of press lately because the light sentence given this young man. He was sentenced to six months jail time and three years probation. There has also been a lot of outcry about a letter that the young man's father wrote to the judge which has been released to the public.
  Before I go any farther I want to make a few points perfectly clear. I am not excusing this young man or what he did. He was convicted properly by a jury who heard all the evidence and made their decision based on that. I am also not condoning the judge either. The sentence he handed down was far below the minimum for such a crime. To me it seems more like a "I have to impose some punishment, but I don't want to so this is what I will do" sentence. I identify with the victim in this case. While I haven't had anyone assault me to anywhere near the extent that she has, I do know what it feels like to have someone disregard my body and personal space. Some scars are universal.
  There are a couple of side issues that bother me that I would like to write about.
   The first one is the letter by the father. Before sentencing the young man's father wrote a letter to the judge about his son and what happened. This letter has been widely criticized because the father showed no remorse for the victim and called the assault, "20 minutes of action". There's a couple of things I'd like to point out about this letter. This was written by a man who wanted to protect his son. He knows that his son committed a serious crime and was hoping to mitigate the consequences. This was not meant to be an admission of guilt or responsibility in any way, shape or form. The whole goal of this letter was to paint his son as a basically decent person who made a mistake for which he should have some consequence, but not too severe. He's a man who has watched his son turn into someone he no longer knows. To him that is punishment enough.
  Why would anyone think that he would say anything about the young woman who was assaulted or take her into consideration at all? That wasn't his objective. His objective was to help his son in a way he knew how. He used an effective approach. Give the judge a picture of his son and trivialize his act.
  What makes the father's letter even more jarring is the comparison between it and the statement issued by the young woman. While I did not read her letter, I did read the statement she made in court.  Unlike the father, she did not dehumanize the young man or diminish the assault. One thing I liked in her statement is that she said two lives were ruined. She held his feet  to the fire and asked him to explain how he would have helped her like he said he would have done. She responded powerfully to some of the statements the young man made. It was a well crafted and powerful response.
  The father's statement definitely carried an impact based on the sentence that was handed down. There has been great public outcry and understandably so. I cannot understand how the judge could possibly think that the sentence he gave was in any way appropriate.
  Which leads me to the next thing that bothers me. I have read many comments after articles talking about the sentencing. What I'm reading is making me uneasy. People are understandably upset. What I am also seeing is people who are advocating violence against the judge and his family. I'm seeing the judge, the young man and his father being called many vicious names. There's been allegations of payoffs and bribes. No insult is too bad to use. Most of the commenters feel perfectly justified in dehumanizing these three men.
  Now, what's bothersome is that these are the same people who feel that the young woman has been dehumanized and disregarded. It's not all right to demean or trivialize her or what was done to her. It's all right treat the judge, the young man and his father as less than human and unworthy of anything.
  I want to point out again. I am NOT defending the actions of any of these men. I would like to point out that what I have been seeing is not a good way to handle this. Making the kinds of comments and threats that I have been seeing are just as bad as what these three men did. The commenters are sinking themselves down to their level.
  There is a better way to handle this. According to what I have read, the judge is in an elected position. If there is anyone who can oppose him that person should run and be supported. If nothing else, do not vote for him and deny him a unanimous vote. As an elected official I'm sure there is some way that he can be removed from office if grounds are found. Find out what to do and do it. It would be a lot more effective than making threats and would leave his family, who have nothing to do with this matter out of it.
  As for the father and the young man the best response I have seen is an open letter from blogger John Pavlovitz. It is a well written piece of work which states the case clearly without name calling or threats. He writes, "I don't believe your son is a monster but he acted like one and that needs to be accounted for." Well said.
  This is the type of response we want. Not threats and derogatory remarks.We cannot sink down to the level of those that would make anyone seem less than human for any reason. We don't need verbal violence to add to the violence that has already been done. It is not helpful and not good for any of us and our society as a whole.