The investigators also asked Hair for permission to check his uniforms for semen.

“I don’t know my rights. Do I have to?” the former officer asked. “I don’t think I want to do that.”

I plead the right to no blacklight searches!

  • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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    7 days ago

    There’s been cases of underage students coercing teachers into sex and the teacher wouldn’t get convicted of rape too. Or if you want to draw an even more extreme scenario, what if she was faking an emergency, the cop looks for her in the back and she forces herself onto her. Would you still argue he raped her because of power imbalance of his job and physical strength? We can go even further… Are all sexual acts of men onto women rape, because they’re inherently stronger than women? Can men not get raped by women because of this?

    The cop here clearly did abuse his power, but it was absolutely not rape. She was using his weakness against him. It’s like accepting a monetary bribe, except that it was sexual favors instead. This is corruption, not rape.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      That’s not an argument in defense of rape, that’s a reason to expand the legal definition to align with the reality of the situation.

      Anyone who is empowered to take away all freedom from an individual cannot have consensual sex with that individual. Whether explicit or not, there is always the threat of force when a police officer has someone in custody. It is not possible to consent to sex under those circumstances. It is always rape.

      • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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        6 days ago

        They aren’t able to just take away all freedom because they don’t actually have that power. A cop can only hold you in custody for so long. A system can still only take away your freedom based on the crimes committed and that is still for a court to finally decide on whether you’re found guilty of that or not. In this case the situation is that the cop can make you NOT go to prison by looking the other way or falsifying data. It’s the opposite scenario of what you’re describing. This is a quid pro quo situation where both parties would be benefiting from their underhanded deal that they’ve made.

        • Trofont@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Yes you get due process, with a bias towards believing the system. People can often spend months in jail before the process progresses to the point where the charges get dropped. So yes a police officer doesn’t have the power to put you in custody for your whole life, but they do have the power to put you at the mercy of a flawed system where you are rolling the dice with your future.

          • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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            6 days ago

            Sure buddy, whatever. Love the thin veiled ad hominem though. Really underlines your argument.

            • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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              6 days ago

              That’s not an ad hominem. I’m not dismissing your argument because of who you are. I’m saying you’re being naive in your expectations of what the police can and will do. And if you actually do believe that an arresting officer who is willing to fuck a detainee will be constrained by legal limits to their power, then I really don’t know how to respond to that.

              • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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                6 days ago

                I’m not dismissing your argument because of who you are. I’m saying you’re being naive in your expectations of what the police can and will do.

                You claim I’m naive so you dismiss my argument. You’re literally contradicting yourself here.

                And if you actually do believe that an arresting officer who is willing to fuck a detainee will be constrained by legal limits to their power, then I really don’t know how to respond to that.

                What would he do? Put someone into his cellar? That would not be backed by his supposed power level of being a cop, that would just be an act of a criminal like any other, cop or not. Your whole argument is that it is rape because of the power imbalance and what he could have done to her if she refused, based on the power granted by his job. You’re spinning one hypothetical scenario after another to make a point that just boils down to a black & white ACAB.