March 18th, 2013 
James Shotwell 
One story that has captivated our staff and nation in recent months is the tale of a sixteen-year-old girl from Steubenville, Ohio who was raped by two high school football players last summer. Yesterday morning, an Ohio court found the two teens charged in the case, Trent Mays (17) and Ma’lik Richmond (16), guilty and sentenced them to at least one year in juvenile jail. They could be held until they are 21 years old. Mays was sentenced to an additional year for a charge related to distributing nude images of a minor. More details on that can be found here.
As you can probably imagine, the reaction to this conviction has been loud and divided, with many turning to their internet to vent. One of those people, punk legend Henry Rollins, posted a lengthy blog yesterday afternoon focusing on the verdict and what the case means on a much larger scale. You can read his words below.
03-17-13
For the last couple of hours, I have been thinking of the verdict that was reached in what is now known as the Steubenville rape case.
Since all involved are minors, I won’t use anyone’s name. Two juvenile males were found delinquent of the charges and will be, as far as I understand, incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility until they are twenty-one years of age.
There is, I guess, cell phone generated video content of parts of the crime. It went “viral” on the internet and brought attention to the events.
I got through a few minutes of it but was too disgusted to watch the rest.
The case, the verdict and the surrounding circumstances open up a huge conversation.
These are a few of the things that I have been thinking about.
After reading several posts online, I was not surprised at the vast range of sentiments expressed. Many of the postings were of outrage that the two found delinquent were not tried as adults so they would face much longer sentences. You might not know, but in some states, this sentence would be decades long. Many of the posts spoke of the damage done to the victim and the life she will have now. One person suggested caning the two young men. Many others were angered at the deification of high school football players and how they often receive special treatment. You can read this stuff all day if you want.
After reading posts for quite awhile, I thought first about the two young men. I wondered if the years in the facility will “help” them. What, exactly does one “learn” in one of these places? That is to say, after five years locked away, does the idea of assaulting a woman seem like the wrong thing to do, more than if you were incarcerated for one year? Would you be “more sorry” about what you did? Is that possible? Or, would you just be more sorry for yourself about where your actions landed you? At what point do you get “better”, how many years in one of these places does that take?
What made these young people think that that what they did was ok? What was in their upbringing, the information and morals instilled in them that allowed them to do what they did, minute after minute, laughing, joking, documenting it and then calling it a night and going home? Out of all the people who were witness to what happened, why wasn’t there someone putting a stop to it?
What I am attempting to get at, and I apologize if I am not being clear enough is that this is a failure on many levels. Parents, teachers, coaches, peers all come into play here. I am not trying to diffuse blame or lessen the awfulness of what happened but I want to address the complexity of the cause in an effort to assess the effect so it can be prevented.
Some might say that the two going to the youth facility are as much victims as the young women who was assaulted. I do not agree. The two are offenders. What they did was obviously wrong. That being said, we cannot end the discussion at that point and expect things to change.
I have yet to say anything about the damage done to the young woman involved. It is ironic and sad that the person who is going to do a life sentence is her.
As a testament to the horrific power of sexual assault, I encourage you to see, yet cannot recommend the documentary The Invisible War about sexual assault in the military. http://invisiblewarmovie.com/. The reason I say that I cannot recommend it is that it is so well done, so clear and devastating that it will put you through quite a wringer. I do hope you see it but damn, it’s hard. In the interviews with women who have been assaulted by fellow members, the damage that has been done to these good people is monumental.
Many people are angry that more time was not given to the offenders. This seems to be the prevailing sentiment. I understand the anger but don’t know if adding a decade onto their sentences would be of any benefit. To me, the problem that needs to be addressed is where in the information chain were the two offenders made to understand that what they did was not wrong on every possible level? You can execute them both tomorrow but still, there is a problem that needs to be dealt with.
It’s a situation where you would like to be able to point a finger and say, that’s the reason and be done. You have to be careful when you do this because it’s easy to miss.
I think to a great degree, we humans still divide ourselves into two species, even though we are monotypic. There are males and females. We see them as different and not equal. Things get better when women get more equality. That is a bit obvious but I think it leads to better results up the road. If it’s a man’s world as they say, then men, your world is a poorly run carnage fest.
It is obvious that the two offenders saw the victim as some one that could be treated as a thing. This is not about sex, it is about power and control. I guess that is what I am getting at. Sex was probably not the hardest thing for the two to get, so that wasn’t the objective. When you hear the jokes being made during the crime, it is the purest contempt.
So, how do you fix that? I’m just shooting rubber bands at the night sky but here are a few ideas: Put women’s studies in high school the curriculum from war heroes to politicians, writers, speakers, activists, revolutionaries and let young people understand that women have been kicking ass in high threat conditions for ages and they are worthy of respect.
Total sex ed in school. Learn how it all works. Learn what the definition of statutory rape is and that it is rape, that date rape is rape, that rape is rape.
In the spirit of equal time, sites like Huffington Post should have sections for male anatomy hanging out instead of just the idiotic celebrity “side boob” and “nip slip” camera ops. I have no idea what that would be like to have a camera in my face at every turn, looking for “the” shot. I know what some of you are saying. “Then why do they wear clothes like that unless they want those photos taken?” I don’t know what to tell ya. Perhaps just don’t take the fuckin picture? Evolve? I don’t know.
Education, truth, respect, equality—these are the things that can get you from a to b very efficiently.
It must be an awful time for the parents of all three of these people and their relatives and I hope they all get to a better place soon.
What else? That’s all I’ve got. Thanks for reading this. Henry
(source)
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Again you’re back to controlling women’s behavior because some men can’t or won’t control theirs.
“There is no constitutional right that your body will be left unviolated.”
Well that just jumped the shark.
And what does that buy anybody? Does it make them less likely to rape again? Or does it make them bitter and angry at the world and prone to murdering instead? Does endless punishment really solve anything? Is it humane? Why not just execute them and get it over with? It would certainly be a lot less pain for everybody that way.
The sentence for breaking the drinking age law is not rape.
Rollins is a joke, much like his fans… To answer your question: enough to match all my missing keys and gloves
I have to wonder if all of us over 30, have selective memory loss of the “Lord of the Flies” battleground that was middle school and high school. It’s the place where kids and their limited perspective on life, (and their developing brains and their developing hormones), gather with other kids equally ill-prepared for that “journey” to adulthood meet. Are kids incredibly, sickenly, jaw-droppingly cruel? They sure can be… I remember it well. There’s a reason why children are indocrinated into becoming soldiers, most recently in war-torn Sierra Leone and Uganda… but conscripting (and brainwashing) children into killing has a long history. Why? Because kids and teens are easily manipulated and have brains still developing; in other words, they have yet to completely develop a moral code. Maybe it seems a stretch to bring in child soldiers as a comparison, but not much of an over-reach. These kids who treated this girl brutally had no one… no adult… with a firm sense of dignity to intervene, around them. Is the answer to lock them up? It’s a start.
I read Henry’s comments – and was pleasantly surprised by the empathy, intelligence and general concern for the human race ……and then I read the first 10- 12 comments and was right back to “WTF is wrong with people???? “
I love your Moral Code – Hitler went to a religious school, what you say now?
These “boys” called themselves “The Rape Crew” before this happened – you actually think this girl was the 1st girl they did this to?? The only thing these boys are sorry for is the fact that they got caught…
her rapists got 1 year in juvenile detention, she got death threats. not justice. At least she got a conviction, but still some in our society are saying “She asked for it” or “she wanted it” or “she deserved it” or somehow or another she’s to blame for a sexual assault–in which she was NOT the perpetrator. Will I tell my daughter not to get drunk and to guard her drink and only drink what she has poured herself or ordered herself from professional bartender, yes. But if she fails to heed my advice and God forbid is raped or otherwise assaulted—yeah she will NOT have brought that upon herself. You can be naked and drunk and still no one has the right to touch you sexually. The assholes who stood around and laughed, or felt bad for her or whatever else they did besides protect her, THEY helped bring this upon her…but these two “good-student-great-athlete-promising-future-boys”–are rapists. Hopefully they’ll not be repeat offenders, hopefully they’ll be rehabilitated, and taught how to be real men and not continue this kind of evil, but to say she was to blame in any way shape or form takes away some of the blame from them…and on them, and those who stood by and let another person be violated is where the blame belongs.
These “boys” called themselves “The Rape Crew” before this happened – you actually think this girl was the 1st girl they did this to??
Maybe while they get violated and assaulted, they will learn what they did wrong. The only thing these boys are sorry for is the fact that they got caught…
it’s plenty common in the US, unfortunately.
Yes, because educated wasted people are still smart in their decision making when they are HORNY….
I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say to me. I simply answered Mr. Rollins question about what those boys will learn in juvenile jail.
The only thing these boys are sorry for is the fact that they got caught…
Great, insightful, articulated very well. Thank you for taking the time to craft something so well written when it would have been so easy just to bash.
thank you for this, thought provoking to be sure
There are many things that should be done and women are taking action such as http://www.missrepresentation.org/
To those who say that the girl shouldn’t have put herself in that situation – comparing it to getting mugged while being in a “bad” part of town – I suggest that everyone should have the expectation of safety. When Israel was experiencing an epidemic of violent rapes and someone at
a cabinet meeting suggested women be put under curfew until the rapists
were caught, then-Prime Minister Golda Meir shot back, “Men are committing the rapes. Let them be put under curfew.”
I’d be saying my safety was the responsibility of others if I said I relied on them. I don’t. I do not believe that I should wear floor length skirts and not drink and not dance because men are bad. Sure, there are some people out there who are not good and I will break their nose and smash their windpipe. Most men believe that they have the right to my body because they like it and are male. It’s not my responsibilty to take away “temptation”. It’s their responsibilty to not be evil and to learn equality.
Women can behave however they want and not expect to be raped. I’ve passed out at parties. I’ve fallen asleep in the bedroom at a house party. No one touched me. No one would even THINK it was something they could do. My male friends are human. People like you who say that she had it coming are the type who would see her and think “I could stick it in there if I wanted”. Regardless if you do or not, you clearly believe you could take that power. The men I know would never even think that. It would not cross their mind. Because they are real human beings, not filthy animals such as yourself.
The pyramids weren’t built by slaves. They were built by conscripts, same as bulked up the army in many a past war.
You open your mouth and expose your ignorance, but that’s what happens when history is no longer taught in schools.
Me too, Gigi. (He’s pretty hilarious too.) His perfect choice of the most familiar words seems so ordinary, but I know it was a miracle.
I don’t know how to teach his instinctive response, except to tell the story. Boys who grow up learning how to be men and fathers like mine will change the culture for the better.
It may sound barbaric, but rapists should be castrated and this punishment would certainly fit the crime. It also would achieve 3 ‘positive’ outcomes.
1) The rapist is not allowed to reproduce and therefore prevents the rapists from propogating his seed and inclinations. Yes, I believe genetics helps to determine a person’s behavior.
2) Castration removes the source of testosterone, namely the balls, which is a hormone that has been scientifically linked to aggression, violence, anger, and overall ‘manly’ moodiness. Hence, this is why many domesticated animals are neutered. Rapists deserve to be neutered.
3) The threat of having one’s nuts cut off should deter any potential rapists teetering on the edge of actually committing the act.
As a man and an animal, I have to admit that the drive to reproduce, aka sex, is a very strong and powerful force, mentally and physically. We are animals. And men, especially younger and newly activated sexual men, are often reckless, unruly, and driven by their nuts. Threaten to cut them off, and we’ll not only have a more docile person, but it will hopefully keep those monkey brained animals dick’s in their pants.
Hell, why stop with rapists? I say neuter all criminals who’ve been imprisoned for any violent acts. Murderers, Rapists, Assaulters, … Think how much more peaceful the prison system could be and how many more men would behave.
Do society a favor. Cut ’em off.
Let me say something controversial that would follow your “the world is a dangerous place and if you don’t get that you deserve pain” logic.
Did the people in the twin towers get what was coming to them?
They had as much awarness of the danger they were in as that little girl at the party. Should we blame them for working in a powerful place in a country hated by extremists? Should we blame her for drinking alcohol at a party with boys?
She felt she was in a safe environment. They felt they were in a safe environment.
Your logic hinges on the idea that she was mature enough to read the signs in the air, to listen to the ground and think ‘ah, rapists here’. She was 16. She knew nothing of the situation, the dangers. She was as unaware as the poor people in those towers.
So tell me how far you want to push your point. Do you blame the victims of terrorism for being unaware of social climate and targeted zones and being unable to see into the future? Do you blame a 16 year old whose life has been cotton wool for not being able to identify a thorn?
Think of the implications of what you’re saying.
In some places in Brittain, they pay drug addicts to get themselves chemically castrated. Seems like a good idea to me.
It seems to a universal problem with a “crowd mentality” that no one reports a crime. They will stand around and witness an event, but do nothing. Until that changes it will continue. When the “bad guys” write the rules and being a “rat” is a punishable event by ostracizing the individual, this will not change.
First, let me start by saying fuck you. If someone is raped they’ve been through enough, and they don’t now have some extra responsibility to save the world, or share guilt in the fucktard’s future actions.
Yes it’s better if she reports it and the rapist is arrested, but she has her own decisions to make, and she doesn’t need your bullshit guilt trip if her actions were different than what you imagine you would have done.
That’s called blaming the victim. If the person who raped her rapes again, it’s her fault? That’s part of the problem; people blaming women (and men) for not only their own rape (why was she showing skin), but also for future rapes at the hands of their attacker. She’s not “allowing” anything – the offender is the offender, not his victim.
Not only are you blaming the victims, but you are also assisting rapists to evade personal psychological responsibility for their future crimes. “It wasn’t really my fault: if that girl had reported me, I would have been arrested, so it’s her fault I was free to rape again.” You do know that blaming the victim is a common – and successful – tactic used by rapists and child molesters? No? Perhaps you should do some research then. And have a serious word with yourself at the same time. Shame on you.
Blaming the victim assists the rapist. Well done, you can add “Sex Offender’s Assistant” to your CV.
So that would be every situation from the second you get out of bed in the morning then. Do you people actually think before you post?
his words: “What I am attempting to get at, and I apologize if I am not being clear enough is that this is a failure on many levels. Parents, teachers, coaches, peers all come into play here.”
Henry Rollins consistently proves himself to be a very well-reasoned & intelligent person.
I think he’s missing the point that these “men” were brought up right, they knew right from wrong. They simply chose to do wrong because, and here’s the kicker, they thought they could get away with it. It’s not as simple as “their upbringing” or “the community” to blame. Some people simply choose evil. And that’s why you punish people with prison and the like. Not so they “get better”. So they “learn you cant get away with this shit in adult-land”.
One Swedish tourist, one Indian student, and millions of poor women.
India is trying to break the world record for most rapes.
This seriously made my day. Finally, some uncommon sense in our mad mad world. Thank you.
I’m not sure what you point is? I was simply answering Mr. Rollins questions about what the kids learn in those places.
Do not blame the victim…you are dead wrong here, granny.
By your logic, if a bird who poops on my head is allowed to live…I am responsible for every consequent person the bird poops on…forever.
Yes…educated people still do stupid things. So your comment is 100% valid in that respect. However, I think what the author was suggesting is not only mere education…but education that incorporates, for example, subject matter that, in theory, results in a residual respect for women. (I added minorities and any other demographic that is widely undervalued). True, horny geniuses can still rape and assault others, but it should happen less often if these geniuses had more positive knowledge of those whom they’d otherwise disrespect. Hate/prejudice/disrespect often breed from ignorance.
Now..the author also acknowledged that the “rubber band in the sky” solutions he proposed wouldn’t solve it all. So education alone won’t be the fix. There’s so many factors.
I bet none of them would be on the offenders sides if it was their daughters that were raped!
Rita, you lie. Right now you can get a listing of the local sex offenders in your area. It will list the crimes each was convicted of. I certainly do not advise it, but you are free to execute any of those rapists at any time. At 74 you are quite full of bluster seeing yourself as some Dirty Harry ridding the streets of punks like these two but still not ready to throw in the towel.
The reason they need a longer sentence is as a deterrent for someone else to treat a girl the way they did..
I think that the point missed here is that sexual offenders are deviant, thus the fact that their actions are wrong on every level is part of the thrill for them. These young “men” should be completely neutered and left with only a plastic tube to urinate through, plain and simple.
long prison sentences are a deterrent. point blank. there crime deserved more punishment and with the publicity behind the case it would make people think when faced with a similar situation. unfortunately this kind of thing happens often, rarely ever reported or prosecuted but when it ends up in court examples must be made. they deserve longer sentences and our young ladies deserve the better protection afforded by slapping these dudes as hard as possible.
Are you aware that no one actually had sex with her? You are advocating mutilation of a juvenile who while intoxicated performed digital (his finger) penetration of an unconscious young woman. Sooo what do we do with all those cases of false rape claims after we have already mutilated the accused? Say “oops my bad”. And while we are at it, if digital penetration gets a severed penis what are we going to do with all the female teachers who keep having sex with 12 year old boys? Think we should sow their vaginas shut?
you should probably look up the stats yourself. Rape and sexual assault have THE HIGHEST rates of convictions for felony crimes. Due to the nature of the crime the standard that most juries have during a rape trial is very low. That is also why according to the Justice Program rape convictions are the most commonly over turned due to convictions with little or no evidence.
again you get that what happened was 2 drunk teenage boys felt up a drunk unconscious teenage girl at a party. There was no intercourse. They would be classified as the least likely type to reoffend. They were not power rapists, or sadists, or gang rapists. They were stupid, drunk, teenage boys. They were given an appropriate sentence.
Yes castrating a teenage boy and mutilating him for life for fingering an unconscious girl makes complete sense, I suppose if you’re an idiot. While we are at it I am so sick of female school teachers having group sex with 12 year old boys, from now on the punishment is that we use a hot iron and burn their vaginas shut. How is that for a barbaric and disgusting punishment, or do we only punish men?
fuck u henry