Alabama Man Won't Serve Prison Time for Raping 14-Year-Old

[alp227]

(HIDE YO KIDS, HIDE YO WIFE.)

An Alabama man convicted of raping a teenage girl will serve no prison time. On Wednesday, a judge in Athens, Alabama, ruled that the rapist will be punished by serving two years in a program aimed at nonviolent criminals and three years of probation.

In September, a jury in Limestone County, in north central Alabama, found Austin Smith Clem, 25, guilty of raping Courtney Andrews, a teenage acquaintance and his then-neighbor, three times—twice when she was 14, and again when was she was 18.

Clem's defense attorney did not call any witnesses at trial, according to AL.com. After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury returned guilty verdicts against Clem on one count of first-degree rape and two counts of second-degree rape.

...

Limestone County Circuit Judge James Woodroof sentenced Clem to 10 years in prison for each of the second-degree rape charges and 20 years for first-degree rape. But Woodroof structured the sentence in such a way that Clem will only be hit with community corrections and probation. Clem will have to register as a sex offender and pay fines and restitution—a total of $2,381, according to the sentencing document provided to Mother Jones—but he will not serve jail time unless he violates the terms of his sentencing.

full: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/alabama-man-no-prison-time-raping-teenager

The judge, for shame:

[seabeyond]

1. montana, calif, alabama. quite an epidemic of almost legal to rape.

got that from another poster.

not to mention stuebenville, and ohio where the cops were just refusing to even prosecute.

[avaistheone1]

17. When did rape stop being prosecuted in California?

That's news to me!!

[seabeyond]

19. soccer coach provided the booze, raped an unconscious 16 yr old girl, got a year in jail, not prison

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4029078

[PerceptionManagement]

25. White judge, white defendant.

Would an African American have been treated differently? It's irresponsible not to speculate. That's just Cokie's Law.

[niyad]

2. so rape is a non-violent crime? wow. . .just. . .wow.

[freshwest]

11. Yeah! Just like littering, huh...

[gopiscrap]

3. this is fucked up

[russspeakeasy]

4. The courthouse phone # is listed in the link.

[City Lights]

5. Circling the drain.

is going on?

I can't believe the stuff rapists are getting away with these days!

[WinkyDink]

6. NON-violent?! I guess because the victim isn't a power tool.

[Starry Messenger]

7. Women, they get all them special rights though.

[AverageJoe90]

8. Welcome to 1863, Alabama!

Shameful, shameful shit. It's as if certain sections of this country have been thrown into a fuckin' time warp.....

At the very least, this guy should have received at least 10-15 years in prison, and then the program, and then a lifetime of probation.

[CherokeeDem]

9. I know I'm repeating what has already been said...

but.... but.... rape is a non-violent crime???

At least he has to register as a sex offender... but he should be doing some serious jail time.

At this point, nothing surprises me...

[flvegan]

10. "Nonviolent criminals" doesn't cover rape? Of a minor?

Woodroof. James Woodroof. Austin Clem. Got it.

Duly noted.

[Solly Mack]

12. Nonviolent? WTF?

[seabeyond]

13. if you are of the mentality that when a woman is raped she should just lay back and enjoy it,

then would you not see it as non violent?

[BlueJazz]

14. Ok...Wake up...rats. You know I have these really shitty dreams sometimes. This one is....

...about a Guy/animal ? that raped this young girl and is not going to jail....waiting...How come I never dream about being
in a Starship and landing on a progressive planet or something nice...Fuck No....I have to dream about this digesting bullshit, as if
somebody would NOT go to jail for such an unspeakable act...wake up....wake up..........

[johnlucas]

15. Street justice will handle this bastard

When you rape, you go to prison. End of message.
This is such bullshit!!

Find that S.O.B. on the street & deal with him if the courts ain't gonna do their job.
Starting to find a common thread between this verdict & the "rape is just another form of contraception" mentality spouted by certain politicians.

Rape laws are supposed to protect women & girls from monsters like these.
This ain't a victimless crime!
And he WILL do it again!
John Lucas

[NuclearDem]

16. Answer horrific violent crime with another horrific violent crime.

Not acceptable.

[johnlucas]

18. Gotta do something. Courts just let a rapist walk off scot-free!

The more you see BS verdicts like this, the more you're gonna see people take up vigilante justice.
This is not a case of ambiguous evidence where the accused may not have done the crime he's accused of.
This sucker committed FIRST-DEGREE & SECOND-DEGREE rape on a teenaged girl! REPEATEDLY!

And all he has to pay is a measly $2,381 in restitution?????
No prison time whatsoever?????

If that was MY daughter he raped like that & he got off scot free, the cat wouldn't be breathing the week afterwards.
He'll rape somebody else, it's guaranteed.

We need a revamp on the U.S. "Justice System". An entire overhaul.
This crap we got right now doesn't work.
The more case outcomes like these around, the more Batmans & Punishers that will arise.
John Lucas

[NuclearDem]

20. Man, aren't you a tough guy.

You don't take this shit lying down!

Violent vigilantes can all frankly go fuck themselves. I get it if some of them are the target's victim or family/friends of a victim, but organizing lynch mobs is anarchy.

Batman and Punisher are fucking fiction for a reason. The reason they'll rise up is less to do with the broken justice system than with vigilante fantasists like you giving them support.

[johnlucas]

22. No, I don't like vigilantism either. But if the courts won't do what they're supposed to do...

I'm very aware of the downsides of vigilantism.
But court cases like this are inexcusable.
And I don't give a damn about upholding the U.S. Justice System if it is not in the business of justice.
Maybe we need a new system. Scrap this current one because it's not serving society like it should.

I told you my honest feelings.
I wouldn't have took it to the streets before the one who raped my hypothetical daughter was charged.
I would have let the man go through the justice system first & get his trial.
But when the rapist is shown to have done it & STILL gets virtually no punishment, what do you expect a person to do?
He's found guilty AND MORE IMPORTANTLY there's evidence that he actually committed the crime.
But they give him no prison time & all he has to do is pay $2,381 for REPEATEDLY victimizing a young girl???

At that point my regard for the justice system will be discarded & I'd take things into my own hands. Real talk.
Rapists simply shouldn't be walking the streets without having done prison time first.

Vigilantes are Pandora's Box. I'm well aware of this.
If you don't wanna see that inevitability, the courts are gonna have to do a better job punishing criminals like these.
If the U.S. Government sent drones to attack homegrown political dissidents, a lot of people would lose faith in the goodwill of that government & would stop honoring the bylaws & rules put down by that government.
Nobody would believe in "voting them out" & more people would believe in "snuffing them out".
A police force shoots up the citizenry in a massive abuse of power.
The people of that town would do less "filing a complaint with the superiors" & start doing more "shooting back at the police".

There's something BEYOND the written laws of a land.
And when the laws of that land don't do what they're prescribed to do, the people go into what's beyond those laws.
It damages the power of the courts every time travesties like this verdict result happen.
If enough people don't believe in the goodwill of the law system, they become lawless.
Very fragile balance.
John Lucas

[seabeyond]

31. what a stupid conclusion. knock it off. to be opposed to vigilante justice, is not supporting a

crime.

this is the way the lazy argue.

[white_wolf]

21. This guy should be in prison, but so should anyone who uses your solutions.

Vigilantism never leads anywhere good. Where do you draw the line? Once you condone vigilantism you make everyone judge, jury and executioner. There are some libertarians who think property rights are worth killing over so going by your system they would be justified for hunting down a thief and killing them. That's the danger of vigilantism you make everyone a law unto themselves and then there is no law. Only chaos. Batman and Punisher are fictional characters for god's sake. (Plus as comics fan Batman is a poor example since it's extremely debatable as how effective he is.)

[johnlucas]

24. I'm aware of this. I don't like vigilantism but the courts gotta do better by victims than this

There's an arrogance with people who work within the "Justice System".
They don't seem to understand that their decisions affect how citizens view their government.
If things get too Banana Republic for the citizens, after awhile the citizens reject that "Justice System" & concoct a Justice System of their own.
And yes this will lead into more abuses because of the judge, jury, & executioner aspect.
That's EXACTLY why judges should NEVER be so trivial with verdicts & sentences like this.

The truth of the matter is that laws are just words on paper.
They mean nothing if there's no action behind them.
When someone rapes a child, that rapist should not get off virtually unscathed.
This is NOT a victimless crime.
Prisons are needed to keep this guy from raping some other girl.
What's the point of a prison if not to quarantine violators like this away from other people.
Rape laws can't prevent rapes from happening but they CAN prevent FUTURE rapes from happening.
The message sent by this judge says "Rape my little girls. It's all good."

Natural law takes over when written law becomes inadequate.
So those upholding written law had better take extreme caution when they deliver their verdicts & sentences.

Remember. This country was founded by people who saw laws that didn't benefit their society.
They told King George to stuff his laws & fought a Revolution.
Just because it's law doesn't mean it's sacrosanct.
The purpose of law is to uphold what is sacrosanct or it means nothing.
John Lucas

[davidn3600]

28. So next time a woman gets no jail for rape, you will take violent action against her too? right?

Or would it be OK for a female teacher to rape your teenage son?

[BainsBane]

32. You look for reasons to be offended.

Everything is not about poor beleaguered and downtrodden men. Fact: men commit 99 percent of rapes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_by_gender
To pretend there is an equivalency is a lie. You need to face reality and stop whining about evil women.

Unlike others here, you don't express concern about vigilante justice but are outraged that the poster doesn't talk about targeting women.

BTW, I have repeatedly argued that female pedophiles should be treated every bit as harshly as
male offenders, which actually is a very low bar. All rapists and molesters should do serious jail time, but the facts are women commit a very small percentage of those crimes. You, on the other hand, argued that the CA prisons were too crowded to incarcerate a man convicted of raping dozens of women and who offended the very day of his last release. After all, he targeted women, and it's not like our lives count.

This ax you have to grind against women is going to poison you. Interjecting your men's rights crap into every thread is bizarre.

[davidn3600]

34. I was actually trying to make a point against vigilantism

We (men) get angry and want to commit violence when someone hurts our daughter. Someone sexually abuses our son and we give the boy a beer.

If you want to talk about female offenders, we can. But that wasn't what I was getting at here.

[Blue_Tires]

26. I think you put too much faith in "street justice"

If Zimmerman of all people didn't get it, why would this guy??

[quakerboy]

23. I cant help but transpose these sorts of things with other current events in my mind

trying to figure it out, trying to make sense of it. It usually doesn't work.

In this case, I cant help but think that maybe if this girl had gotten to have lunch at applebees with the moms, and the gun toting loonies were busy stalking and staring down the rapist, The world would be a slightly better place.

[intaglio]

27. If the prosecutor cannot get this sentence corrected

then it sounds like this man needs a performance of the "Rough Music"

[Octafish]

29. Alabama, where INNOCENT Gov. Don SIEGELMAN serves years...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022073759

[Gravitycollapse]

33. Part of his sentence should be having a target tattooed on his forehead.