Well, yes, those are the facts of the case. And without trying to excuse Polanski's actions or deny these facts, I'm saying the prosecution of Roman Polanski is a meaningless pursuit at this point. There is not a conceivable outcome that will result in anything like justice for any aggrieved party, including the U.S. legal system. I question why Switzerland chose to arrest Polanski now, instead of the numerous times that he has been in the country in the past 32 years. I question how extradition to the U.S., presuming that's the point of the arrest, will result in an outcome that is better for anyone than the status quo.

Well, the case could be decided and Polanski could be free to travel and work in the USA.

Call me cynical, but I don't think that's too likely.

There is not a conceivable outcome that will result in anything like justice for any aggrieved party, including the U.S. legal system.

Well, there's something to be said for deterring flight, for not maintaining the impression that one can get away with child abuse if one stays in France long enough. If someone has denied justice to anyone or anything, it is entirely on Polanski; if he didn't want to spend time in jail as a septuagenarian he should have returned at any time in the last three decades.

Sorry Hec. Unfortunately I think there's a pretty solid correlation between zeppelin inclusion and crappiness of movie.

(see Flyboys for example)

I'd be willing to hear Polanski's arguments on why the Holocaust and the Manson murders should affect his sentencing. He went through several forms of hell in his younger years. And maybe that should affect the exact punishment he receives. But it shouldn't give him a pass to inflict another form of hell on a child who was little older than he was when the Holocaust ended. (And something that should go without saying -- his film genius shouldn't have any effect at all. Rosemary's Baby is a great movie. But it doesn't give him a pass.)

I'm not sure how the "he's in his seventies" and "he spent 30 years on the lam" work into it. Maybe they cancel each other out.

The argument that I find most frustrating is the "she forgave him years ago" one. In the US criminal system, it's the state vs. the accused, not the victim vs. the accused. Apart from witness testimony, from a legal perspective, it doesn't really matter what the victim thinks or feels on the issue. For all the talk about "getting justice for the victim" on crime shows, we don't want the victim to be the one making punishment decisions. We want equality under the law.

As a practical matter, it's often difficult to get a criminal conviction if the victim won't testify. (Though not an issue here, of course, because he's already been convicted.) Though it's easy to sympathize with whoever has to prepare a victim impact statement.

Well, there's something to be said for deterring flight, for not maintaining the impression that one can get away with child abuse if one stays in France long enough.

I agree with this point, but I don't think that Polanski has created any precedent. Maybe I'm ignorant of such matters, but I don't believe that the French legal system has decided to allow their country to become the international sanctuary for child molesters. I think they made an exception for Polanski, who has a unique history of suffering and, yes, artistic achievement.

In the US criminal system, it's the state vs. the accused, not the victim vs. the accused.

Yes, I'm aware that this is the way that the justice system works. I think that when Polanski faces trial in the U.S., the evidence will show that justice has been miscarried in this case on all sides, including that of the state. Which is why I thought the prior situation in which Polanski could not set foot in the U.S. nor travel extensively abroad seemed far preferable than the current situation, in which sheets of dirty laundry from all of the sides are going to be aired and there will be a chorus of reductive arguments on the Internet to the tune of "He's a child abuser!" and "He's an artist!" as if either fact makes the other disappear.

The question of why now is the one that bugs me the most about all of this. Polanski has not only visited Switzerland numerous times over the years, but he owns a home there and was invited to visit in this case by the government to receive an award. It appears that Eric Holder's Justice Department decided to ask Switzerland to arrest and extradite Polanski, but it mystifies me why the current Justice Department considers this a higher priority than prior administrations.

but it mystifies me why the current Justice Department considers this a higher priority than prior administrations.

Maybe this administration actually gives a rat's ass about 13 year old girls.

"He's a child abuser!" doesn't make "He's an artist!" disappear, but it does make it utterly irrelevant. I don't care if he taught the whole world to sing as well as invented a cure for AIDS, cancer, and snoring. He raped a 13 year old. He should do all the time in prison our justice system can throw at him.