"The victim forgave him"

[supergee]

I'm sure someone has pointed out the stupidity of making this a get-out-of-jail-free card, but I haven't seen it. Suppose you've committed a crime, and you know that you won't be punished if the victim forgives you, what will you and your friends do? That's right: threats, nagging, religious appeals, all sorts of things that would keep victimizing the victim. (Like "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs," it can be nice once but is disastrous as a policy.)

I am a failed libertarian, which is to say that I recognize the grim necessity of giving some people guns and clubs and letting them use force in the name of the shared fantasy known as society because there are worse things (such as armed gangs that do not have to act accountable). This is one of the things the State is good for: After a crime is committed, the State takes the responsibilities of arrest, trial, and punishment off the victim's shoulders as much as possible.

Comments

[necturus]

There are certain crimes, and assault is one, that are usually not prosecuted if the victim does not press charges.

However, in Polanski's case the victim's attitude isn't relevant because he plead guilty to the crime before jumping bail. No trial is necessary here, only a sentence.