Lying To Make Friends

There may a good argument against finally bringing Roman Polanski to justice for the rape he committed over 30 years ago. This is not it. Particularly unpersuasive is this passage:

Polanski, who panicked and fled the U.S. during that trial, has been pursued by this case for 30 years, during which time he has never returned to America, has never returned to the United Kingdom., has avoided many other countries, and has never been convicted of anything else. He did commit a crime, but he has paid for the crime in many, many ways: In notoriety, in lawyers’ fees, in professional stigma. He could not return to Los Angeles to receive his recent Oscar. He cannot visit Hollywood to direct or cast a film.

There are a lot of things I don’t like about our criminal justice system and sentencing processes. One thing I do agree with, though, is that the perpetrator of a crime not get to choose his own sentence. As Kieran Healy says,

See, you or I might think that not going back to the U.S. or U.K. is an action Polanski took in order to make sure that, having raped a minor and fled the country, he would not be rearrested. But you or I would be wrong. In fact these are punishments that Polanski has suffered.

Further, as flawed as our penal system may be, it should affect all equally, and not exempt those with the means and connections to hide out in Europe for decades.

-AR