Woody dated actress Stacey Nelkin when she was still a fifteen year old high-school student. She was at least one of the inspirations for Woody’s multiple storylines about romances between middle age putzes and underage teens, beginning with Mariel Hemingway’s role in Manhattan and continuing with Juliette Lewis in Husbands and Wives and Evan Rachel Wood in his latest.

Bad as Polanski? Hardly, but he still needs to STFU about this, IMHO.

I’m going to go with assuming you’re joking.

What next? Criminal decides to stay in a 10×8 room in their own house for 90 days and claim it’s the same as staying in jail?

Well, gee, that seems like it would save the state a shitload of money. Personal responsibility to boot. What’s not to like?

Yeah, I don’t think anyone was arguing that should be allowed. Carl can speak up if I’m wrong. I took his comment as just an ironic observation.

It’s kind of like saving a death row inmate from suicide.

Sure, the law is ridiculous at times. But my point is that, while bringing him back to throw him out (if that’s what the result would be) seems illogical on it’s face, it’s necessary to prevent allowing the criminal to decide for himself what the punishment will be and carry it out.

What next? Criminal decides to stay in a 10×8 room in their own house for 90 days and claim it’s the same as staying in jail? “But I made sure it only had a cot and I only left it for 30 minutes a day for exercise. So why drag me down to court to do the same thing someplace where the state has to pay for my meals?”

Agreed 100%.

But Jesus H. Christ on a cracker — enough with the Woody Allen shit already. Facts of the matter, for those of you apparently unfamiliar with them:

– Soon-Yi Previn is NOT the daughter, adoptive or otherwise, of Woody and Mia Farrow, nor (to state the obvious) is she biologically related to either of them in any way.
– André Previn is her father by any real meaning of that word. Among other things, according to statements from the various parties, he was the one who bought her Xmas presents, and the one she called “Daddy”.
– Woody and Mia were not married, nor were they “shacking up”. It was stipulated in court by both parties that Woody did not so much as spend the night at Farrow’s apartment.
– Unless we have vastly expanded the definition of “underage”, this does not apply either. Depending on whose account you belive, Soon-Yi was either a freshman or a senior at Drew when her relationship with Woody began; in either case, she was older (22) at the time of its discovery than Mia was when she married Frank Sinatra (and, of course, there is nothing odd about a 21-year-old marrying the most famous swinger of the 20th Century when he was 50, is there?)
– Woody and Soon-Yi’s relationship was obviously serious. They have been together for at least 17 years now, and married for 12 years — which, interestingly, is longer than any relationship, marriage or otherwise, of Mia’s has lasted.
– The accusations of child molestation against Woody were completely fabricated and dismissed by the judge presiding over the custody hearing.

The relationship between Woody and Soon-Yi may have been unconventional, inappropriate (given Woody’s previous affair with Mia), shocking (at least to Mia), and (obviously) fodder for all sorts of nonsense, including — unfortunately — the utterly ridiculous and offensive comparison here of Woody’s actions with Polanksi’s.

It’s kind of like saving a death row inmate from suicide.

If (if) that was the way things ended up happening, which we won’t know because Polanski took it on himself to break the law and run, then there are legal means available to deal with it. The criminal does not get to say “I don’t like the way the judge is looking at me, I don’t think they’ll be fair.” and use that as a justification for skipping out on sentencing.

Criminals don’t get to set the terms of their sentencing. They get forced to show up in court and get the sentence from the judge. They don’t get to run and then declare “See, I’ve suffered. So you don’t get to do anything further.”

It doesn’t work that way. Nor should it.

I actually believe that he should be charged for this. The problem being that he’s going to basically walk on that charge, leaving a lot of people very unhappy with the state of justice… if he’s even extradited at all, which is still to be determined. There are some good arguments on why he shouldn’t be extradited.

I’m not saying that he shouldn’t go to court. I’m just saying that this is one of those times where it is likely to be better if he hadn’t, as at least he was kept out of Hollywood.

“How can anybody make that claim ( that a plea bargain was approved) with a straight face when we know Polanski SKIPPED TOWN before he was ever sentenced?”

Because both the prosecution, the defense, and the victim admit that a plea bargain was in existence for the sentencing hearing that sent him to Chino, which amounted to the time in Chino + a slap on the wrist… only to have a media-hungry judge who was trying to make a name for himself break the agreement he was a party to.

Polanski doesn’t deserve mercy… but our legal system could certainly use a little. I certainly wouldn’t like to see that kind of “justice” applied to American citizens.

So, if Polanski had stayed for sentencing and the judge had gotten his way, the result would have been exactky what happened – Polanski left the country and never returned. Which makes the idea of him being brought back to the US for sentencing pretty stupid.

I say that it was Polanski that did the stupid thing, if that was the case. Now he has to pay for that decision.

He’s got a job now, don’t he? He didn’t suffer enough.

It’s far better than it was, but victims testifying in a rape trial tend to get victimized all over again. Even if they aren’t facing a particularly nasty defense attorney who tries to make them out to be a slut with a history of sleeping around who asked for it, regardless of how demure their sexual history may be, they have to get up on the stand in front of an audience and recount exactly what happened to them in painful detail.

It is not a pleasant experience and it’s quite understandable that many would prefer to just try to forget it all, even if it means someone goes unpunished.

Especially after decades have passed.

He shoulda gone into movies instead of football.

Um..yeah… Didn’t think about that too much:( Sorry, how about the minutia(mispelled?)of the case?