Bill Cosby, during his 50+ year career, has worn many
masks: stand-up comic, actor, producer, director, family man. There was another
mask that the public never saw unless you were really unlucky to get close
enough to it.
In 2005 that mask made itself known when former Temple
University faculty member, Andrea Constand, filed a criminal complaint against
the actor which D.A. Bruce Castor, refused to arrest Cosby due to insufficient
evidence.
At that time, many people accused Castor of not
wanting to do his job due to Cosby’s reputation and wealth.
In 2005 Ms. Constand filed a civil suit and the matter
was settled out of court.
Life went on until Chicago-born comedian Hannibal
Burress happened.
On October 16, 2014 Burress came to Philadelphia to
perform his standup routine at The Trocadero Theatre. During this routine he
did a bit on Bill Cosby as he had done for the last six months.
What made it different was that this time someone
recorded it and put the video on Philadelphia Magazine’s website. You can also
see this video on YouTube:
When you have someone who is rich and powerful that’s
being accused of a crime(s), they are much harder to take down. They have
friends in high places, lawyers that excel at getting through any legal
loopholes, and they have people who are too intimidated by their wealth to do
anything. This was the case with then-D.A. Bruce Castor.
Despite Andrea Constand’s criminal complaint, any
evidence she may have presented and 14 other women who had come forward saying
they had been assaulted by the not-so-funny comedian, Castor refused to take
any action.
It should be noted here that despite taking a $3
million settlement, Andrea never stopped fighting to get this predator off the
street.
She is the true hero out of all of this.
There were people in Montgomery County felt that the
legal process had taken too long, but this wasn’t like an episode of Law &
Order: SVU.
Justice isn’t always swift, and it isn’t always fair.
It’s the way the system is. Accusers too often have more rights than their
victims.
Justice
also has the ability to persevere and although there may be a lot of twists,
turns as well as dead ends, it will also pursue that which seems to be non-pursuable.
In May of 2016 a preliminary hearing was held, and it
was determined that there was enough evidence to go to trial.
On June 5, 2017 Montgomery County prosecutors began
the sexual assault trial against Bill Cosby.
On June 17, 2017 a mistrial was declared.
On April 9, 2018 the new trial began
On April 26, 2018, Bill Cosby was found guilty on all
three counts of aggravated indecent assault. He could get 30 years for each
count. His sentencing date was set for September 24, 2018.
On social media the ongoing question was how did he
get convicted without any evidence? Well, in addition to Constand’s testimony,
there was Cosby’s own words to admitting maybe not to the assault, but to the
method that he used.
This was exactly how the victims described it.
In between the time that the trial started, and the
sentencing phase took place, Cosby was seen by a court-appointed state psychologist, Kristen Dudley, for a psychiatric
evaluation. This is pretty standard for people who have been convicted of
crimes where their motives for them are horribly creepy, to say the least.
On Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Bill Cosby was declared
a Sexually Violent Predator. The psychologist who evaluated him said that Mr.
Cosby cannot control his urges to hurt young women and, if he gets the chance,
he’ll do it again.
Victims who came forward went as far back as the 1960s
and perhaps even more; there may also victims going back to the late 1940s-1950s
when Cosby was in Philadelphia and then in the Navy.
In Pennsylvania being deemed a Sexually Violent Predator
will stay with him the rest of his life. He will have to register as a sex
offender, stay on the registry, and be required to check in with state police
monthly.
While he is in prison, Cosby will also have to attend
counseling and provide details of any change in residence once he is released. Most
prisons have group therapy sessions which he may also be required to attend.
Although the sentence isn't what some hoped for - he
only got 3-10 years - any time is going to be hell for him because he will be
right alongside the very people he has been prejudiced against: the poor and
the black.
The American system of justice is one thing and street,
or prison justice is entirely something else. Inmates have a justice system all
of their own and it can be, at least by their standards, effective.
There are honorable crimes such as leading the cops on
a high speed chase, theft (burglary) and murder under certain circumstances
(like killing a child molester). Crimes in which women and/or children were
intentionally targeted are not acceptable; that these criminals are subject to
the prisoners’ form of punishment.
Unlike some court systems, there are no fines, no probation/parole,
or slap on the wrist with prison justice. The punishment is brutal and
physically violent. Sometimes the end is final.
Currently, Cosby is being housed at SCI (State
Correctional Institution) Phoenix.
He is being held on a block all by himself; in a cell by himself.
The prison released a statement once he got there that the staff are taking
every precaution to ensure his safety.
Take note that they didn’t say that they guaranteed
his safety because that’s just not possible.
Just like there was no guarantee that Olympic doctor
and rapist Larry Nassar was going to be safe in a prison filled with only
sexual predators.
The administration at Phoenix hopes that it may
eventually be able to place him in general population but don’t hold your
breath on that one.
What every prison official knows and what they won’t
talk about is that usually riots happen in order to get to those in protective
custody (homosexuals, snitches, rapists, child molesters) or they will use the
riot to carry out their justice.
In 1980 the worst riot in the history of the prisons
in the United States happened at the Penitentiary of New Mexico.
Although the riot was to protest the conditions and
lack of services inside the prison, it was also used as a cover to go after
inmates who were placed in protective housing. The rioting inmates didn’t have
keys to the doors, so they used blow torches to get in.
By the time the riot was over, more than 233 inmates
had been raped, tortured and beaten; 33 of them were murdered. All these
inmates had been in protective custody.
The riot prompted a documentary called The Hate Factory. You can view it here
on YouTube:
Riots like this and others are why no prison can
guarantee an inmate’s safety.
Many people thought that Cosby would go to a prison
that was for the elderly, but his label as a Sexually Violent Predator demanded
that he be placed in a maximum security prison. It is unknown if this is where
he will spend his sentence, but some people in the prison believe that it is.
Although he is eligible to apply for parole in three
years doesn’t mean he will be granted parole. A lot of factors will be taken
into consideration.:
- He has fully participated in therapy sessions and is no longer resistant to treatment
- Shows remorse for his crimes
- Hasn’t had any write-ups for disobeying rules
- Hasn’t had any altercations with staff or inmates
- If he is still determined to be a threat to others
The parole board will also take into account letters or
recorded statements from his victims as well as statements from the Montgomery
County District Attorney’s Office.
All of these things and other considerations will
decide whether or not he will be released back into society.
No one really knows at this point whether Cosby can
adapt to his new environment, but adapt he must.
He is no longer ‘America’s Dad’, but ‘Pennsylvania’s
Inmate #NN7687.’
If he wants to survive he’s going to accept his new
reality, put aside the ego and the superiority complex.
He has to understand he’s not among his adopted tribe
anymore. He’s back in the hood. Only you can’t escape from this one.
Hopefully he will see being pelted with a hot dog bun by
an inmate as he entered the prison on his first day as a warning shot of what’s
to come.
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