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How could anyone vote for this db?


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Coakley made deal in 1995 priest case

Did not prosecute in boys’ complaint


"I agonized over every one of those cases," said Martha Coakley of her work as head of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit (Matthew J. Lee/ Globe Staff)

By Michael Rezendes
Globe Staff / November 23, 2009

When Martha Coakley was the Middlesex district attorney, her office prosecuted the Rev. John J. Geoghan based on an allegation that he squeezed the buttocks of a 10-year-old boy a single time at a public swimming pool. The highly publicized 2002 conviction won Coakley widespread praise for bringing the first successful criminal case against the widely accused pedophile, a priest many had called “Father Jack.’’

Senate race coverage But seven years earlier, Coakley, then the head of the Middlesex child abuse unit, had Geoghan in her sights and took a dramatically different approach. Back then, three grade-school brothers told investigators that Geoghan had inappropriately touched them during numerous visits to their Waltham home, and had made lewd telephone calls to them. Rather than prosecute, Coakley agreed to grant Geoghan a year of probation in a closed-door proceeding that received no media attention at all.

Because of the deal, Geoghan faced no formal charges and no criminal record.

Coakley details her role in 1995 probation deal for Geoghan - The Boston Globe

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Real World

What a lying POS scumbag. She lets the guy walk basically, without any public knowledge of the crime, and then lies through her teeth about the circumstances surrounding her decision.


What a lying POS db. She sent this animal back into the farm to rape more kids, and she has the nerve to say she handled it appropriately. She never even pushed the church about the loser kiddie didler, even though the church had a dossier on the guy. I've said it from day one, when this kiddie didler BS became news, that all of the priests, or members of the archdiocese that knew about this (that you you Bernard Law!), should be in jail.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Mrs.PatsFanInVa

Just last night in another thread, you scorned information I supplied (at your own request) regarding recent arrests and/or convictions for hate crimes by militia-type groups or organizations. Your !, your sheesh and your pretty clearly state that you felt it was old and outdated information and therefore not at all relevant to anything in today's world. (Even tho my information spanned from 1995 to 2009.)

Your exact words were

Why is that 1995 any different or any less current than this 1995?

Do you even think about other things you may have said or are you only capable of entertaining one thought at a time?

Harry Boy

All politicians are "Scum" hold your nose when you vote and try to pick the least scummiest, how any decent person can go out in public and Fawn over these filthy people is beyond me.

YES, that includes Sarah, right now I consider her the best of the Tribe Of Politician Swine, but she is one of them.....

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Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

Real World

Are you a moron, or just looking for your baseball? This woman is currently running for the US Senate. Hello, Mcfly, hello?!? The crux of the point in the other thread (thanks for hijacking this one btw) was that the "militias" were becoming a threat suddenly. That only recently, they were beginning to grow. Why? Because a black guy was now president. Yet, you went ahead and posted "proof" that lists 75 incidents of arrest, since 1995! Yeah, that's recent alright, and certainly supports the notion that there is problem with militias relating to Obama.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Mrs.PatsFanInVa

And a child molestation case which was plea-barginned rather than taken to to court in 1995 - before the church broke down and released any records, before there was wide-spread knowledge or acknowledgment of child molestation by catholic priests and before the courts became so much stricter on child sexual abuse is somehow a problem with a senate election taking place in 2010? Yeah, that's recent alright.

What's more "recent' are the 5 sexual abuse convictions that Coakley has made since 1995 - I don't see you making any mention of them for some reason.

Real World

Yeah, you're right. My thinking that if Coakley had done her job appropriately at the time, that the issue would have been exposed a decade sooner, and maybe some kids in the meantime wouldn't have been molested, is misguided. I think Coakley is swell. You've changed my mind.All child molesting priests should be held out of the public light, and given a year away from kids unsupervised, without a criminal record.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

DarrylS

This did not make a big media splash until the Globe exposed it in 2002... not that it makes it right, but prior to that most of the world was on that river in Egypt...

Dealt with some victims of catholic priest sexual abuse over the years, and most of the time they flew under the radar.. in heavily concentrated catholic areas of the NE, where politics and folks like Cardinal Law boundaries blur..there were always efforts to make this go away..

The standards of 1995 are much different then they are today.. when I worked with the state, dealt with a family in the mid 70's, 3 girls and the father molested all of them... they disclosed and the AG wanted the whole case to go away, however they had to proceed due to political pressure by me and other concerned folks... never forget as we walked into Court the AG, came over and whispered in my ear and asked... "What am I supposed to ask, did your father put his penis in you"??? I said, "yes"... we walked in and the dad looked at the pissed girls, and made a deal to avoid doing time..

Without regard to look at anything today, and judge yesterday by the same standards does not work real well... what Coakley did in 1995, was pretty much in practice in that day and age, unfortunately..

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Mrs.PatsFanInVa

That's not what I said, was it? The thing is there's enough blame to go around. This is one woman who was trying to do her job with what she had to work with - and in 1995 that wasn't much. Should she has gone to court? Maybe yes....but remember she had just suffered a brutal loss with the same kind of case involving another priest just months before hand - to the cheers and celebration of a whole congregation. Also remember that the church was not only NOT cooperating at the time they were actively withholding evidence and strongly defending their priests both in and out of court room settings.

Sometimes you settle - it's not always what you want to do but sometimes it's the best you can hope to do. Maybe, just maybe, this was one of those cases. I hardly think it's the whole of Ms. Coakley's record so maybe we should take everything she's ever done into consideration instead of basing our hatred on one instance we really can't speak to the legalities of.

Patters

75 incidents since 1995 and 50 new militia groups since Obama got elected. To me that packs quite a punch. Are all the incidents related to race? Probably not. But, perhaps we should look at those earlier incidents in light of what is happening now, with Obama receiving 400% more threats against him than Bush. To me, the extremist right wing has always had issues with race and, many of these militia members more than likely have sympathy with racist groups like the KKK, John Birch Society, and so on. I think history would show that the American extreme right wing has always been associated with racism, but Obama has certainly inspired them even more than Bill Clinton.

By the same logic, Coakley should be held to high standard for her failure to prosecute more aggressively in 1995. Of course, the Catholic Church had enormous power in MA then, but still when we look to leaders, those who are best are not afraid to confront even institutions as powerful as the Catholic Church.