<\body> Stories in America: Suzanne Swift Sentenced to 30 Days in Confinement; Her Accused Rapist is Free

Friday, December 15, 2006

Suzanne Swift Sentenced to 30 Days in Confinement; Her Accused Rapist is Free

This is justice? Visit Suzanne Swift's website for more information.
A soldier who refused to return to Iraq after saying she had been sexually harassed was sentenced to 30 days of confinement Wednesday after pleading guilty to missing movement and being absent without leave, the Army said.

Suzanne Swift, 22, of Eugene, Ore., was also demoted from specialist to private, but she can remain in the Army and could eventually earn an honorable discharge under the terms of the plea deal.

Swift served in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. Her unit was sent back to Iraq in January 2006, but she refused to go and stayed away for about five months. Swift said that her supervisor in Iraq coerced her into a sexual relationship, and that other colleagues had harassed or abused her.

The Army substantiated her allegations against one soldier at Fort Lewis. That soldier later left the Army after a reprimand from his battalion commander and reassignment to another unit.

Swift was arrested in June. Her plea, which came during a summary court-martial, helped her avoid a federal conviction. She will be reassigned to a new unit when she completes her sentence.

5 Comments:

At 12/17/2006 6:34 AM, Blogger JACK BOO said...

Check the comments here (yep, there I am)...
http://storiesinamerica.blogspot.com/2006/11/perpetuating-cycle-of-military-sexual.html

From the Washington Post:

Military officials said the judicial process showed the Army to be thorough and fair. For Swift, it was important that "we got the government to acknowledge that her story has merit," said her lawyer, Keith Scherer. "EVEN IF SUZANNE WASN'T VIOLENTLY RAPED, she was still a victim of sexual misconduct."

(Emphasis mine)

Apparently Suzanne thought a rape accusation might carry a little more emotional oomph than plain ol sexual misconduct. Well, ya gotta admit, falsely charging someone with rape does get seem to attract a little more attention. Considering that alone, I'd say Private Swift got more than she deserved. Sorry, but lying about rape is a big no-no in my book. It's an extremely serious and horrible crime. Suzanne Swift owes a great apology to women who have been raped and not taken seriously because of people who would lie about such a terrible crime just to evoke sympathy and outrage.

By the way, that remindes me. You were giving us regular updates here on "stories in america" about that Duke rape case when it broke. Haven't heard anything here for a while. Any reason? I understand there's been some interesting developments recently.

 
At 12/17/2006 12:16 PM, Blogger JACK BOO said...

"Suzanne Swift Sentenced to 30 Days in Confinement; Her Accused Rapist is Free"

Couple points and a couple questions:

I think most people would agree that there's a big difference between an "accused" rapist and a "convicted" rapist. Are you suggesting that people should be incarcerated on the weight of mere accusations? So, um, what's the judicial precedent were talking about here?

According to Swift's lawyer, Swift was NOT raped. Read the title to this post again. Really, do you not see anything misleading or unfair about that title?

 
At 12/17/2006 12:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Suzanne Swift Sentenced to 30 Days in Confinement; Her Accused Rapist is Free"

Couple points and a couple questions:

I think most people would agree that there's a big difference between an "accused" rapist and a "convicted" rapist. Are you suggesting that the state should incarcerate individuals on the weight of mere accusations? Holy crap.

According to Swift's lawyer, Swift was NOT raped. Now read the title to this post again. Do you anything there that might qualify as misleading or unfair in light of Swift's attorney's statement?

 
At 12/17/2006 12:31 PM, Blogger JACK BOO said...

"Suzanne Swift Sentenced to 30 Days in Confinement; Her Accused Rapist is Free"

Couple points and a couple questions:

I think most people would agree that there's a big difference between an "accused" rapist and a "convicted" rapist. Are you suggesting that the state should incarcerate individuals on the weight of mere accusations? Holy crap.

According to Swift's lawyer, Swift was NOT raped. Now read the title to this post again. Do you anything there that might qualify as misleading or unfair in light of Swift's attorney's statement?

 
At 12/17/2006 12:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alright. It happened again.

When I use my logged in blogger profile problems happen.

I'll stick to the unlogged "jack boo" for now on.

 

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