Essay on Judge agrees to release possible rape victim
I have always believed that Children’s rights are special issue in our state and they are strictly protected. However, the article “Judge agrees to release possible rape victim” caught my attention. The article states: “A California judge on Monday ordered the release of a 17-year-old girl who had been placed in juvenile hall last month because prosecutors feared she would flee rather than testify at the upcoming trial of a suspected rapist”. According to the article, the reason for such measure is that ‘the girl has a history of running away’. Besides, the author provides numerous comments of officials for the case. The judge acknowledges that the girl’s detention was seen as victimizing her a second time. The measure was taken by the prosecutors as they saw her testimony as ‘vital evidence against a man they believe is a serial rapist’. The author states that the girl was present at the court, though she did not speak. Instead she was smiling and laughing with one of her attorneys. Thus, it can be concluded that she does not realize the real state of affairs. She does not realize that she was made to be a victim once more. Another thing that shocked me was one of her attorney’s comment. She said t was a good day for her client as she had obviously been suffering in incarceration and she was glad that the girl was free then. Victims’ rights advocates emphasized that the case of girl’s keeping in incarceration could ‘discourage other victims from reporting sexual assaults’. The prosecutors’ response was that the danger posed by the rapist overweighed the inconvenience to the girl. The girl’s another attorney gave her own comments on the girl’s keeping in juvenile. She said that the girl had been treated like a criminal and was even hit with pepper-spray used to break up fights. The other attorney commented that ‘the prosecutors could have taken less extreme measures’ to ensure the girl’s showing up and testifying in the court. However, nothing had been done to protect the girl’s right for freedom.
One more important fact is that a rape examination found the rapist DNA. It can be considered as the main evidence of rapist’s being guilty. Thus, it was not necessary to take such measures against the girl.
To my mind, the case described in the article shows how a child’s ignorance about his own rights can be used to against him/her but for the sake of the court officials. Witness protection program has also been ignored. If there really was a possibility that the girl could escape and was not going to show up in the court, she should not have been taken to the juvenile as if being a young criminal. Instead, she could have been provided with psychological assistance and kept in good conditions. She had to be watched by the specialists after what she has gone through. This case should be seen as the violation of children’s right. Moreover, as the girl was a victim of sexual assault and should have been provided with psychological assistance, the official who had ignored law and their duties should be punished. In my opinion, lawyers could find more procedural violations in this case. It sounds really shocking that the prosecutors are not able to suggest nothing but keeping the witness in prison before the hearing to ensure her/his testifying in the court. Taking into consideration the fact that the witness is a teen, being the victim of sexual assault, the case sounds even more discouraging for the whole state court system.
To sum up, it should be noted that the fact that keeping the teen victim of sexual assault in the juvenile to ensure her testifying in the court was seen as the only possible solution by the prosecutors is inconvenient. The possibility of her escape or any other reasons can be seen as the reasons for such measure. The case is definitely a serious violation of children’s rights. It should be publicly discussed and the legality of such measure should be disputed at the higher state levels. The girl’s right should be protected.
