"The letter on my desk was from a family, a husband and wife. They had written to me after reading a short news article I’d done about a 26-year-old convicted child molester who had been arrested that week and charged with raping a 14-year-old girl. The girl was their daughter. She had been raped by the man two months earlier but had been locked away in juvenile detention for more than a month—longer than her attacker had been in custody."
—Here's what is probably the most upsetting story you'll ever hear.
I heard about that terrible judge from a Micheal Moore documentary. As problematic as he is, he's helped radicalized my factory worker formerly Republican father.
@Villa I find this hilarious, cause I heard about Ciavarella from a libertarian magazine.
I already knew how this story ended, but by the end of it, I was choking back tears. Tears of anger and rage. As the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Op Ed pointed out regarding Paterno and Penn State, why didn't anyone ask if the kids were ok? A failure of character at so many levels of society, even the journalistic. I'm going to step away and set the world on fire.
The author of that piece seems awfully convinced of the futility of his original reporting, but I think that could just be a pragmatist's bias. There's nothing wrong with doing the right thing and writing the right thing irrespective of the outcome. There is honor too in knowing what your position is and having some faith that your contribution may help tip the scales in some unknown way. It's an excellent antidote to hopelessness.
@ep I actually felt like he was trying to convince himself that he HAD convinced himself, if that makes sense. because he clearly hasn't forgiven himself, and that came through in every word.
@C_Webb That may be right. Which also doesn't exclude the possibility that he may also be very carefully, very delicately taking himself off the hook.
But forgiving oneself, dodging blame, disparaging readers as careless entertainment seekers, editors as careless entertainment providers, despairing at systemic inhumanity or profound invisible corruption, all these things become unnecessary if you possess a commitment that can survive bad results or no results. So hopefully he's found that now in writing about the arts.
NPR has been running a series about how the state of South Dakota has been taking Sioux kids into foster care and refusing to place them with other native families in order to get matching federal funds. It's horrifying- state kidnapping for profit, with a side bonus of continued cultural obliteration.
I read the story about Ciavarella before but hadn't remembered his name. I'm sure some of the kids he sent away managed to overcome what he did and turned out okay, but there must be plenty of others whose entire lives were ruined by this– all to make a quick buck. People like him make me really want to believe there's a Hell.