The Demjanjuk case: Travesty, justice, or something else?

[Piggy]

WTH?

Someone in your state is seriously trying to prosecute child prostitutes?

Please tell me what state you live in, so I can avoid it in the future.

Georgia.

As it stands, child prostitutes are considered criminals and are arrested and charged.

Very recently, an effort was made to change the law so that they would be considered victims of sex trafficking rather than offenders.

But some groups of social/religious conservatives objected, and spun the proposed legislation as an effort to "legalize child prostitution", so the effort was pretty much scuttled.

 

[Piggy]

What did he actually do other than stand guard?

Well, that was the point of the OP... to inquire about the particulars of the case and to ask whether or not his actions merit prosecution. Was he a willing participant in genocide, or just a guy trying to save his own skin?

 

[Piggy]

Perhaps there is more to the story -- perhaps prosecuting them is the only practical way to get them off the street and then into treatment? I can imagine their pimps could easily block off attempts at rehabilitation by social workers, but not arrest warrants from the police.

If I had to choose, I'd rather have a child prostitute in a juvenile detention center than on the streets as a prostitute.

Well, it's complicated.

Some opponents of the reform say that if we don't threaten child prostitutes with the possibility of imprisonment, they have no incentive to testify against their pimps... they'll just go back onto the streets and keep hooking. And in fact it might be an incentive for pimps to use underage girls if they can't be prosecuted.

Some proponents of the reform say that if child prostitutes know they won't be put into the system if they talk, it will act as an incentive for them to help the state put their pimps in jail.

Personally, I don't consider any of that.

As far as I'm concerned, we have to treat children as children, as people who are not in power, not in control of their situation, and not yet fully developed in their powers of judgment.

I say we should always treat child prostitutes as victims of sex trafficking, not perpetrators, regardless of any instrumental arguments regarding the prosecution of pimps.

 

[Piggy]

Really ? You think that a Red Army POW conscripted as a Nazi prison watchman has the authority or ability to grant leniency to anyone ? That's a pretty far stretch of imagination. The major question is - was he willing and complicit or was he sadistic ?

Uh... yeah, well, that's what I was saying.

You're taking my words out of context here. I was proposing a hypothetical:

Suppose it were shown that he did agree with Nazism and was a willing and eager participant in the death of thousands of people.

In that case, I think it would make no sense to argue that there should be some statute of limitations or that his age is some sort of argument for leniency. Did he show leniency for the old and infirm?

I wasn't attempting to condemn him for failing to show leniency.

I was proposing a hypothetical scenario in which it could be established that he was an eager and willing participant, and saying that in such a case, if he showed no leniency to others on the basis of age and infirmity, then I don't see why his age and physical condition should be considered when determining his punishment.

This was only to illustrate my point that his age and condition should not, in and of itself, spare him from punishment.

Rather, what's important here is his level of culpability.

If he was just trying to make it home alive, that's one thing. But if he actively engaged in horrific cruelty against others because he chose to and wanted to, that's another thing altogether.

This is why I don't believe his age should be considered. It's not relevant.

Only his culpability in the alleged crimes themselves is relevant.