Quote:
Originally Posted by blkhrt
Unfortunately, in this day and age, an apology doesn't exactly cut it.
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What does though? Considering the high profile of the case and his own subsequent notoriety, I think it's pretty likely he's never tried anything similar since, so a prison sentence as a measure to prevent/deter from future crimes would probably not have been more effective.
And while necessary, "equality before the law" is in my opinion just a crutch because there's no divine justice that can calculate the perfect, appropriate punishment for each crime and criminal. Let's say a good, honest father and family man accidentally runs over someone with his car and is sentenced to a number of years in prison for manslaughter. And let's say a violent, psychotic, murderous thug who has spent half his life in prison and feels more at home there than anywhere else, does the same and receives the same sentence. Have these people received equal punishments, been inflicted pain upon to an equal degree?
My point being, as far as the punishment itself goes, that everyone must be punished for their crimes, I really wonder if for an artist to never be able to have his work or name mentioned ever again in the history of mankind without bringing to mind what he did or leaving a bad taste, isn't a punishment worse than whatever sentence he might have gotten if this hadn't blown up like it did.
As for fleeing his (possibly unjust) trial, that's really nothing compared to the original crime in my opinion. And as mentioned the victim has forgiven him.
I'm in no way saying that what he did wasn't despicable, and I totally understand if someone would never want to have anything to do with him because of his morally reprehensible action, I just don't understand the people who do so because of some belief that the issue hasn't been "dealt with", that he got out of it completely unscathed, or some kind of blind trust in the law.
And isn't doing something for mankind, in this case furthering the arts, to make up for one's past sins commendable? If a person kills someone and later regrets it, and decides to dedicate his life to start a children's hospital, saving lives, I think it's natural that this would lessen the crime in the eyes of people.
As a curious aside, did you know that both Charles S. Dutton and Rebecca Gayheart have killed people?
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