Thread by @kegill

A few comments about this Jan 17 CNN report on the Nassar sentencing hearing, surfaced in a Jan 24 tweet by @germanrlopez
@Mantzarlis
cnn.com/2018/01/17/us/… #

1st: Non-sourced judgmental statements litter the article, eg > "Aquilina's comments have sometimes bordered on vindictive."
“Sometimes” is plural
Judge Aquilina’s eye-for-an-eye slip happened once
Hence my classification of this statement as editorial. #

2nd: CNN cites three "experts.” I have read stories with experts who say the exact opposite, that it is not unusual for judges to express opinion in sentencing hearings. Here’s NYT
nytimes.com/2018/01/23/spo… #

3rd:
Judge Aquilina was carrying out Michigan law regarding integrating victim statements into sentencing. The two lawyers CNN quoted are not certified to practice law in MI. #

4th: Judge Aquilina comments in sentencing were not tepid. Guess what. The Michigan Court of Appeals has already ruled that they don’t need to be. THIS WAS NOT A TRIAL.

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5th: Victim statements are permitted at some point of the sentencing process in all 50 states, BTW. And #timesUp for judges who don’t honor this for sexual assault
time.com/5121265/judge-…

h/t for ^ tweet > Bustle
bustle.com/p/judge-rosema…
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6th: Judge Aquilina did something that no one else in the system seems to have done: listened to these young women and believed them. This is not the norm for sexual assault cases. For that alone she should be lauded.
nbcnews.com/think/opinion/… #

7th: As the @WashingtonPost notes, her forum provided advocacy for justice for victims of sexual assault - something sorely missing in the United States
washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-par…

8th: The comment that @germanrlopez and @Mantzarlis take issue with was prefaced with "Our Constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment ... If it did, I might.." IMO, this was a slip made while speaking directly to a victim. #

9th: Yes, I'd preferred she had not said this. But it is the only one of her personal responses to 156 victims (0.75%) that has been criticized. As Slate notes, she is human:
slate.com/news-and-polit… #

10th: Therefore, stating, as the original tweet does, that Judge Aquilina deserves NO praise/endorsement due to one slip is the new dictionary entry for gotcha-journalism.

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