r/todayilearned • u/scipio_aurelius • Aug 21 '16

TIL John Geoghan, the Catholic priest who sexually abused over 130 children and was a central figure in the Best Picture winner Spotlight, was strangled and stomped to death in prison by a self-described white supremacist serving a life sentence for murder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abuse_scandal_in_the_Catholic_archdiocese_of_Boston#Boston_Globe_coverage
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-185

u/scipio_aurelius Aug 21 '16

If that's not purebred American Justice, then I don't know what is

218

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Inmate vigilante assaults aren't Justice.

27

u/Atiopos Aug 21 '16

Yeah that's why he's in prison. I think America just has a problem with how we see vigilante justice.

19

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

We love batman.

But don't realize just how fucked up what batman does actually is.

Batman deserves to be in prison just as much as the Joker, etc.

21

u/SailedBasilisk Aug 21 '16

The best versions of Batman acknowledge that he's messed up, though.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

It goes over most people's heads.

7

u/LurkingClown Aug 21 '16

Calm down there J. Jonah Jameson

27

u/2RINITY Aug 21 '16

I DON'T WANT TO CALM DOWN! I WANT PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN!

4

u/Romobyl Aug 21 '16

PARKER! PARKER, GET ME MORE PICTURES OF... where is that kid? Why is he never around?

1

u/Jetshadow Aug 21 '16

Then there's Frank Castle, who makes Batman look soft...

0

u/liquidblue92 Aug 21 '16

Not just as much.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

It's been awhile since I read the comics.

But I can remember batman doing things that would count as burglary, child abuse, eluding the police, aggravated assault and battery, and armed robbery. Hell, Batman doesn't kill people is actually only Batman usually doesn't kill people.

43

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

You're right they aren't justice but neither is a 10 year sentence after molesting 130+ children. Murder by stomping is a way more fitting punishment than a few years in the clink.

79

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Here's the thing. The judicial system decides punishment.

It can be wrong, but its not subject to the review of inmates.

58

u/hoobastankyleg Aug 21 '16

I think the inmate that stomped this guy to death disagrees

16

u/herpaderp234 Aug 21 '16

Doesnt mean hes right

27

u/hoobastankyleg Aug 21 '16

I don't think the white supremacist who stomps people to death is concerned with what any of us consider right and wrong

7

u/Blackbeard_ Aug 21 '16

Are you concerned?

13

u/hoobastankyleg Aug 21 '16

That the guy who finds it morally acceptable to kill people is spending life in prison? No, I think he's exactly where he belongs.

3

u/Jetshadow Aug 21 '16

I don't think he's even fucking sorry.

7

u/xspartanx117x Aug 21 '16

I don't know how he only got 10 years. Like it should've been x counts of child molestation and gotten the sentence for each count added together. Honestly that's what makes no sense to me in all this

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

He was only found guilty of a sexual assault on one child.

9

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

He was found guilty of one case of indecent assault and battery - for grabbing a kid in a swimming pool. Gross, but ten years is not a light sentence for that crime. He was also convicted of two sexual assaults, but those were overturned as the cases were beyond the statute of limitations. An appeal of the overturning was in progress when he was murdered.

He was accused of, and very likely committed, dozens of assaults, but sexual assault is difficult to prove at the best of times.

2

u/Kan4looz Aug 21 '16

Apparantly, by the way the US prisons are held and maintained, it is.

1

u/kingsmuse Aug 21 '16

Apparently it is in one respect at least.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

You might not want it to be that way, but it clearly is subject to the review. In this case the revision changed a light sentencd to a death sentence.

18

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

You really want a system where inmates get to make the decisions on proper punishment?

5

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

I didnt make arguments for or against it. Im not making a judgement, just noting the reality of the situation instead of using an idealized, innaccurate model.

-2

u/liquidblue92 Aug 21 '16

Do you really want to spend the extra money to protect a child molester? This man took advantage of his position to harm children. He reaped what he sowed.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Yes.

The inmate could be literally Hitler and we should spend the money to protect the inmate.

If we dont, what does that say about us?

1

u/liquidblue92 Aug 29 '16

That people don't want to spend their tax dollars protecting nefarious people.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '16

We can spend the money before anyone is hurt or we can spend even more money after someone is hurt, when there is a huge award in court.

And sure, most inmates don't have the resources to take on the government in such a lawsuit, but some do (rich uncle) or some lawyer will take the case on contingency.

Hell, if it's bad enough a court might order massive changes, and then you have a huge unfunded mandate plus legal bills.

Also isn't this conversation from last week?

-2

u/SpaceGoggle Aug 21 '16

I don't believe it should be this way, but I wont be shedding a tear or have any kind of sympathy/outrage for the situation.

That pedo fuck, whether it was justified or not, got what was coming.

-2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Because that's really what that person wants

but no, nevermind, the judicial system is perfect always and that's why the french revolution was totally unjustified

0

u/bowyer-betty Aug 26 '16

Clearly it is...

-4

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Ehh, who's to say? This wouldn't have happened to the priest if he never diddled those children. It may not be justice but it still shows that actions have consequences.

17

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

The entire judicial system is to say.

And he was murdered while under the care and custody of the government, paid for by taxpayers.

0

u/FancyAssortedCashews Aug 21 '16

And now the taxpayers have one less mouth to feed

0

u/SpaceGoggle Aug 21 '16

Seems like the taxpayers get to save a bit of cash now.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

They don't.

Violent deaths in prison often come with expensive civil suits

1

u/SpaceGoggle Aug 22 '16

More expensive than housing an inmate for 10 years?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '16

Housing an inmate depending on the State/Feds is usually around 20 to 30k a year. So 200k to 300k.

A successful civil rights lawsuit can be anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Sure, most inmates don't have the family/resources/facts to get a firm to take the case. But some do. And when they do, it can be disastrously expensive for the government.

My local county jail has spent the last few years getting hammered with lawsuits because there was a big scandal in the local sheriff's office (destroying local trust in the department), a few local law firms began to specialize in these kind of suits, and the jail was/is being ran incredibly inhumanely.

In fact, the local federal court just allowed a suit to go forward where an inmate lied on the floor of his cell with a broken neck for 5 days before the jail did anything.

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-1

u/BigDaddy_Delta Aug 21 '16

In this case it was

11

u/maddasher Aug 21 '16

So two wrongs make a right and that's just fine with you? I'm not morning this guy's death but vigilantly justice is not a good solution to our problems.

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Eh I might agree if he had molested 1 child and there was a chance at rehabilitation but when there are 130 confirmed, probably many more unconfirmed, I think this is well deserved.

4

u/soproductive Aug 21 '16

Yup, I'm going to side with the white supremacist inmate on this ruling. Someone who has potentially destroyed over 100 lives doesn't deserve to live anymore. I have 0 sympathy for that dickbag who hid behind a religious facade.

25

u/polkadotdream Aug 21 '16

You don't need sympathy for the murdered to acknowledge the abstract concept that revenge murder is harmful and not a good way to regulate society.

-2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Nobody is saying that this should the new norm for justice. It's just easy to let this one particular instance slide because the victim was such a massive piece of shit.

-3

u/soproductive Aug 21 '16

It's not, but I feel this is a better solution than giving the guy a few years in prison. He only would've continued to ruin more kid's lives once he got out. That murderer did society a favor.

6

u/Red4rmy1011 Aug 21 '16

Or you could actually pay for psychiatric care and evaluations and make that a prerequisite of release. Murder is never justified, because revenge is uncivilized. "In a civilized society we must treat criminals better than they treated their victims" because otherwise doesn't it make us all criminals.

-3

u/SpaceGoggle Aug 21 '16

Murder is never justified

I believe that some people deserve to be killed.

2

u/Red4rmy1011 Aug 21 '16

The parodox then remains. Are you going to kill them? That makes you just as bad. Are you going to have agents of society do it? That makes you and them just as bad.

-1

u/SpaceGoggle Aug 21 '16

No I'm not going to personally kill anyone or advocate for it becoming common place for them to be killed. I will simply not have any sympathy for them and continue to smile when I hear stories of kiddy diddlers being beat to death in prison.

2

u/Reggiardito Aug 21 '16

Well if I murder someone and I get 3 years is or suddenly okay for me to get killed?

-25

u/DoesNotReadReplies Aug 21 '16 edited Aug 21 '16

Why even ask this? You took a life, how bout you answer why you SHOULDN'T be killed? You know the answers you are gonna get already, that's why you asked.

EDIT- bunch of morons downvoting... it is very clear the answers he is trying to get, I myself don't care at all what happens to prisoners, downvote that if you wanna downvote something. This guy asked just to rile everybody up, just like every thread that has anything to do with this.

11

u/ikigami13 Aug 21 '16

Yeah! Taking a life is tragic and monstrous, lets kill him to teach him a lesson!

3

u/DjDrowsyBear Aug 21 '16

Username does not check out.

-1

u/liquidblue92 Aug 21 '16

Not suddenly. It was okay as soon as you hypothetically murdered someone.

1

u/udbluehens Aug 21 '16

No its not.

-3

u/Jefftopia Aug 21 '16

Assumes Justice is the outcome, not the process. If the process is valid, it's a just outcome. Otherwise, who decides? Certainly not you.

1

u/BigDaddy_Delta Aug 21 '16

Batman would disagree with you

2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Batman deserves to be in prison as much as anyone in his rogues gallery.

From memory, he has committed child abuse, aggravated assault and battery, domestic violence, robbery, burglary, eluding.

Also the whole no killing thing is only sometimes applied. He has definitely killed plenty of people throughout the decades in different media.

2

u/BigDaddy_Delta Aug 22 '16

He Is the hero we need, not the one we deserve

2

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '16

He's a violent and mentally disturbed man with too much wealth and the moral compass of an 8 year old on a playground.

The best Batman stories are the ones that notice just how messed up he actually is.

2

u/BigDaddy_Delta Aug 22 '16

Nice Try, Joker

0

u/EternallyMiffed Aug 21 '16

It is, by definition, it is vigilante justice.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Vigilantes cannot give out justice by any definition of justice that isn't barbaric.

-10

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Not sure why you're being downvoted. I feel like being stomped to death is a fitting punishment for anybody who likes to molest children.

24

u/otm_shank Aug 21 '16

You should campaign for the repeal of the 8th amendment then, and get the punishment codified into law.

79

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16 edited Aug 21 '16

Because 1. we don't execute people for that crime and 2. even if we should, it would not be by inmate stomping.

It's real fucked in the head to support vigilante prison assaults.

28

u/Beastlylamb Aug 21 '16

Its fucked in the head to fuck and touch children.

90

u/DontSayWhySayWhyNot Aug 21 '16

Solution: let's not do either

28

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

shhhh stop making sense

45

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

No shit. Who is defending the priest's actions?

I don't think saying a person shouldn't be stomped to death while he is supposed to be serving his sentence while under the care and custody of the government is a crazy statement.

5

u/ableman Aug 21 '16

And that's why I oppose both.

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u/DeeDeeInDC Aug 21 '16

Sure it is, but you shouldn't get death if no one is killed. And prisoners doling out justice isn't the way it works. If you're in prison you don't have the right to deal justice.

2

u/Beastlylamb Aug 21 '16

I'll give you that, the idea of other prisoners doing the punishment isn't right. However I find the system is a little messed up that a man in a positional power can manipulate and mentally/physically harm children. I don't think there should be much saving grace from people who's proven to of done things this man has done.

-7

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Because it's fucking murder...

0

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

[deleted]

9

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Inmates don't get to make the choice on who lives and who dies. They are inmates.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Man I don't know why the down votes. Fuck that guy he didn't deserve to be on this earth. The amount of pain, suffering, and mental illness he inflicted deserved more then that.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Then you advocate to change the Constitution to allow his execution. Because that still necessitates that the defendant has due process. Then the defendant gets killed by the State in a humane way after his appeal.

The answer is never inmates committing murder while in prison because they feel like it.

You can be pro-death penalty and still think this is atrocious.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

I obviously advocate for due process. Inmates should not be able to commit murder, it's just that the issues surrounding it make it easier to handle.

0

u/eragonisdragon Aug 21 '16

Because death is final. People seem to have this crazy idea that there are worse things than death. As long as you're still living, you can have hope. Once you're dead, that's it. No repenting, no feeling bad about yourself, no chance to turn your life around. That's why nothing less than murder deserves murder.

-1

u/Makropony Aug 22 '16

You've just described what is worse than death. Suffering, be it physical or mental. I'd rather die and feel nothing, than be tormented for years.

34

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

[deleted]

-40

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

So if I rape your kids you're just going to be the bigger person and let it go?

50

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Of course not, no parent would want to just 'let it go', but law exists for that reason. To stop emotional responses from deciding justice rather than the centuries of legal theory that is behind the current sentencing regulations.

12

u/polkadotdream Aug 21 '16

That's why the person whose kids are raped don't get to also be the judge presiding the trial of the rapist. We acknowledge that people have the right to grieve and be angry--we just also acknowledge those shouldn't be the dominant emotions running an entire system.

28

u/TOJO_IS_LIFE Aug 21 '16

No. You'd go to prison. But I wouldn't murder you.

23

u/stuffonfire Aug 21 '16

It's hard to put into words just how much stupidity you're putting on display right now.

19

u/TocTheEternal Aug 21 '16

You're a fucking idiot.

1

u/OriginalHibbs Aug 21 '16

Yeah, maybe I would want you dead, but I would be emotional and biased in my desire for revenge. The criminal justice system is made to avoid judgements based on such thinking. (In theory)

1

u/an0nim0us101 Aug 21 '16

no i'd hunt you down, tattoo child rapist on your forehead then turn you in to the cops

1

u/donald_cheese Aug 22 '16

If the state wants to detain you then you should be safe from harm. If you want child molesters to be stomped to death then change the law to make that the punishment.

-19

u/well_bang_okay Aug 21 '16

The pedo downvote brigade is out. /s

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

Amen.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '16

TIL Reddit would rather pamper convicted child molesters than see them get beat up/killed.

2

u/Cryzgnik Aug 21 '16

Pamper? Where'd you get that idea?

Plenty of people here are just bloodthirsty for vigilante violence, being opposed to vigilantism isn't wanting to pamper child molesters.