Random Thoughts

I considered not commenting on the Kobe Bryant case because I don’t know what happened on that night in Colorado and regardless of my personal beliefs on the subject; it is not up to me to speculate. I do have an opinion, but without the facts, I can not say for certain whether or not the charges are valid.

What I can say is the media circus surrounding the case is absurd. You can barely get any news media to cover an attack of this nature when the accused is unknown, but the endless drudgery of the details of the personal lives of both the alleged victim and Mr. Bryant is out of control. How can either of them get a fair trial when the media has already made up most people’s minds for them?

Call me naive, but I still have faith in the system. I guess the big problem now is that system depends on the right of the accused to face his accuser. The last couple of days, there have been countless internet polls and radio talk shows debating the appropriateness of the disclosure of the Colorado victim’s name.

I don’t see how this can be wrong or inappropriate unless the victim is underage. To me, it doesn’t matter whether her allegations are true or not, I truly don’t want to see her name dragged through the mud, but honestly, how could you ever think you could make that type of allegation and remain anonymous? Even when you are accusing a local Joe, your name becomes a matter of public record. But when you are the alleged victim of a famous NBA player as popular as Kobe Bryant, your life is bound to be scrutinized and your identity revealed.

I am not saying the media attention, public speculation and death threats are justified. Personally, I find them disgusting, but unfortunately in today’s culture it is to be expected. I can’t say I am surprised and I would have a hard time believing anyone who tried to convince me they were. I don’t pretend to know the solution, and I certainly don’t envy this woman’s position, but I have to say I support her name being a part of public record. Ultimately, we will entrust 12 of our fellow citizens to sort this out on our behalf even if we never know the real truth surrounding the events of that night.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2003 at 10:36 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.