So why are "liberals" cheering eliminating statute of limitations for rape?

[Malicious Intent]

Murder has 20 in Spain. Genocide and terrorism don't prescribe.

Yeah I know but the German code I quoted says that genocide and murder are excluded and then says that for other crimes carrying the life sentence, it's 30 years. So it makes you wonder what these other crimes are (unless it's just an empty category).

Treason, crimes against humanity, warcrimes, preparing a war of aggression, building a WMD for imminent use. Also potentially various other crimes (arson, blackmail, robbery, human trafficking...) if they result in one or more deaths.

[Zanza]

Murder has 20 in Spain. Genocide and terrorism don't prescribe.

Yeah I know but the German code I quoted says that genocide and murder are excluded and then says that for other crimes carrying the life sentence, it's 30 years. So it makes you wonder what these other crimes are (unless it's just an empty category).

Treason, crimes against humanity, warcrimes, preparing a war of aggression, building a WMD for imminent use. Also potentially various other crimes (arson, blackmail, robbery, human trafficking...) if they result in one or more deaths.

And in this context also sexual assault or rape that result in death.

[Zanza]

Your thoughts of what is widely accepted elsewhere are often wrong. Is that enough explanation?

At least German people seem to agree with me.

Yes and I personally agree with you. But as demonstrated in this thread other liberal societies have adopted other regulations, so "widely accepted" does not seem to apply to your and my stance on statute of limitations. I can think of arguments in favor of our laws, but also in favor of e.g. no statute of limitations as in Canada and don't think it is a fundamental question of personal liberty. If we accept that our society needs to punish people for crimes the exact details are up for discussion.

[garbon]

Personally, I like the notion that murderers and rapists have to go through their lives worrying if their past misdeeds will eventually catch up with them.

[CountDeMoney]

Personally, I like the notion that murderers and rapists have to go through their lives worrying if their past misdeeds will eventually catch up with them.

Fucking college transcripts.  I mean, who cares, right?

[garbon]

Personally, I like the notion that murderers and rapists have to go through their lives worrying if their past misdeeds will eventually catch up with them.

Fucking college transcripts.  I mean, who cares, right?

I do recall as a child being worried about what my permanent file said about me. But then like cursive handwriting, it was something of no actual importance.

[Martinus]

Personally, I like the notion that murderers and rapists have to go through their lives worrying if their past misdeeds will eventually catch up with them.

That's fine but it's not a liberal position.

[garbon]

Personally, I like the notion that murderers and rapists have to go through their lives worrying if their past misdeeds will eventually catch up with them.

That's fine but it's not a liberal position.

Are you having some issue with how liberal is used as a term? You can be considered liberal in America and still want people to pay for their crimes even if they managed to avoid detection for several decades.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah I don't see how it's liberal or not. My view is statute of limitations should probably only cover crimes against property or that are non-serious against a person.

[mongers]

Can 'we' have Timmay make a concerted effort to post a few more inane threads? 

[Valmy]

Well I don't have any problem with violent crimes not having statutes of limitations. But then I am a bloodthirsty Texan.

Especially rape. People get Stockholm syndromy as fuck over that crime. Getting people to even press charges is almost impossible, as opposed to if they were robbed or whatever. Sometimes it may take a few decades for the wheels to start turning.

[Sheilbh]

Yep and especially when there's a power differential that means the victim won't be heard/believed, eg. Priests in a Catholic country, prominent entertainment figures etc.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm looking forward to following Marti's efforts tlas he does something about this whole Qatar rape-rape thingy.

Good luck, Marti.  We're all rooting for you.

[Malthus]

There is a significant concern with not having limitations, particularly in sexual assault cases, and it is this.

One of the purposes of limitations in criminal cases is to protect accused persons from having to answer accusations where, due to the passage of time, evidence that could contradict the accusations against them has been not collected, lost or forgotten.

In sexual assault cases, often the only evidence of guilt is the accusation itself, unless the police are consulted and a "rape kit" is collected. The evidence that tends to corroborate or contradict that accusation may well be lost with the passage of time (for example, an accused person may well have an alibi which places them at another location during the alleged attack - but twenty years later, will they or anyone else remember where they were on a specific day?).

The issue is whether the injustice imposed by this ought to weigh against the injustice of allowing possible criminals to go free if their victims fail to come forward after a certain number of years.

[garbon]

In sexual assault cases, often the only evidence of guilt is the accusation itself, unless the police are consulted and a "rape kit" is collected. The evidence that tends to corroborate or contradict that accusation may well be lost with the passage of time (for example, an accused person may well have an alibi which places them at another location during the alleged attack - but twenty years later, will they or anyone else remember where they were on a specific day?).

Aren't those often sexual assault cases that then fail though?