Stick to The Roman law

Roman Polanski, highly accredited film director, was taken into custody in Switzerland at the Zurich Film Festival and faces expatriation to the US. If you have not heard this name before, you think: What could this man have possibly done at this festival to be kicked out of a country? But, it is not what he has done now; it is what he did 32 years ago.

Polanski fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl. Samantha Gailey (now Geimer) was 13 years old at the time, when Polanski allegedly plied her with champagne and drugs during a model shoot, before raping her. He was charged with rape, child molestation and sodomy. He was 43 at the time.

However, according to many Hollywood highflyers he should not be punished for this. Whoopi Goldberg delivered an infamous line: it was not “rape-rape”. A petition is being circled for the dropping of these charges. To let Polanski off the hook trivializes child sexual abuse and sends the message that rape is OK. It maintains that those who are rich and famous need not be held accountable for their actions.
Geimer, now married with children, is asking for the issue to be dropped saying the constant publication of details "causes harm to me, my husband and children". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2712371.stm).

Many look at the other side of the coin, in sympathy. Polanski spent his childhood in the Krakow ghetto, lost his mother in Auschwitz and his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, to a brutal murder. Traumatizing life events for one person to experience, however, he is now passing that on to another. If he is not punished for his actions which he pleaded guilty to, injustice is served, and the judicial system is not fair to all. Samantha protested and said “no” repeatedly throughout the ordeal. He ignored her. She insisted on going home. He ignored her. Let us not ignore another rapist walking free.