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NEWS: Christopher Handley Sentenced to 6 Months for 'Obscene' Manga


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sheentaku



Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:57 pm Reply with quote
Interesting to note that he will not be registered as a sex offender.
I wonder what would have happened if he never pleaded guilty
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kefkaownsall



Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:59 pm Reply with quote
sheentaku wrote:
Interesting to note that he will not be registered as a sex offender.
I wonder what would have happened if he never pleaded guilty

Then he would probalby be a sex offender legally. Most lawyers recommend pleading guilty.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:00 pm Reply with quote
kefkaownsall wrote:
Most lawyers recommend pleading guilty.

Perhaps you meant "weak lawyers". A good lawyer should be able to get you out of this, but it's quite obvious that he couldn't afford such a thing.
Good to see that he got out of this with a light sentence.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8461
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Six months for drawings. Drawings.
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yellow ledbetter



Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 54
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:01 pm Reply with quote
They consider Romeo And Juliet to be obscene? What's going on in this country?
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kefkaownsall



Joined: 05 Jul 2008
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:03 pm Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
Six months for drawings. Drawings.

Hey at least it isn't Australia.
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sheentaku



Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Upstanding citizen with no prior arrests and a steady job for 12 years has his life ruined forever because of drawings. Pretty amazing.
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Daemonblue



Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 701
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:08 pm Reply with quote
And this is why I'll never have faith in our legal system. There are just too many cases to count where someone who was doing something that harmed no one go to prison while the real criminals are let free on the streets, not to mention California with its "3 Strikes" thing where you can get a life sentence (20 or so years there, where I live life means life) just for shop lifting. QI actually brought that little bit up in a recent episode, as well as how we have most of the world's prison population as well as other things, but I digress.

The point I'm trying to get at is the law has moved from something to protect the citizens to something that protects corporate interests and profit margins, as the only reason for pushing harsher sentences for victimless crimes is for prison labor, which is a rather lucrative business. I could go on and on about how overall this case was just horrible from start to finish and is about protecting someone else's values at the cost of one person's future, but this really isn't the place for long debates about the ethics of our "justice" system.
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hissatsu01



Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 963
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:10 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't consider this getting off very lightly. Aside from the 6 months in prison, there's the 3 years of supervised release, 5 years of probation, and his career is destroyed. All because of a handful of books with obscene drawings. Just great. There's something obscene about this, and it isn't the drawings.

Last edited by hissatsu01 on Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:11 pm Reply with quote
kefkaownsall wrote:
sheentaku wrote:
Interesting to note that he will not be registered as a sex offender.
I wonder what would have happened if he never pleaded guilty

Then he would probalby be a sex offender legally. Most lawyers recommend pleading guilty.


Interesting how such laws are even ethical in the first place i.e. a sexual offender with non-existent victim. I suppose it makes sense in the minds of social conservatives/morality zealots

But his life is still ruined. Now he'll have a criminal record, and have to undergo brainwashing by the state:
Quote:

Handley must also "participate in a treatment program, to include psychological testing and a polygraph examination, as directed by the U. S. Probation Officer." According to earlier court documents, this last provision is "intended to provide [Handley] with diagnosis and treatment for sexually and/or gender identity or other mental health issues."

The polygraph tests will ensure that he will genuinely be converted into a "normal" person, with views acceptable by his neighbors and the state.


Last edited by configspace on Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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abunai
Old Regular


Joined: 05 Mar 2004
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Location: 露命
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:14 pm Reply with quote
yellow ledbetter wrote:
They consider Romeo And Juliet to be obscene? What's going on in this country?

You've misunderstood the text. It clearly states that Romeo and Juliet is a work of artistic merit -- and therefore implicitly not viewed as obscene under existing legal interpretation.

- abunai
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:16 pm Reply with quote
How wonderful that the stuff that was seized can easily be downloaded on the internet, without having a USPS worker to deal with.
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TatsuGero23



Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Posts: 1277
Location: Sniper Island, USA (It's in your heart!)
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:17 pm Reply with quote
Makes me wonder what will happen if a guro fan gets caught. Psycho killer!?!?!? *sigh...

Good he got a light sentence though. And really its hard to say if even a good lawyer would be able to get him out. Issues on CP or CP like things are very touchy and volatile in the US. The odds would really be against you even if you perfectly explain and detail the differences and everything because of general opinions of the matter. Fictional or none.
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yellow ledbetter



Joined: 05 Mar 2008
Posts: 54
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:19 pm Reply with quote
abunai wrote:
yellow ledbetter wrote:
They consider Romeo And Juliet to be obscene? What's going on in this country?

You've misunderstood the text. It clearly states that Romeo and Juliet is a work of artistic merit -- and therefore implicitly not viewed as obscene under existing legal interpretation.

- abunai


Sorry I should have said it would otherwise be considered obscene if it wasn't judged as culturally valuable. Who makes these judgments? Some people think Romeo and Juliet is trash.

It just seems like the thought police are getting closer and closer to smashing in our doors and dragging us into the streets so they can burn all of our books.
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hitokiriizo



Joined: 18 Aug 2007
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:19 pm Reply with quote
uh correct me if i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure i've seen Doll Labyrinth
sold here in the us or amazon (can't remember where exactly)
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