site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2612 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 28, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The burden should not be on the victim to convey to the court in her image or video that sexual misconduct with minors involves objective pain, emotional suffering, or humiliation. Rather, the burden should be on the defendant to prove otherwise. Common sense and human experience inform such an approach.

I do not see how it would be possible for someone to prove that a person on an image or video is not in pain when the assumption is that they would be hiding it.

During the pandemic there was such beast as asymptotic covid ... for those obtuse enough to be healthy.

I forgot to copy some text that clarifies the dissenter's viewpoint here. (The paragraph was cut in half by a page break.)

This approach also fails to take into account that the minor may experience objective physical pain, emotional suffering, or humiliation immediately after or in the minutes, hours, or days following the sexual misconduct depicted in the material. This approach excludes all outside circumstances, even though those circumstances may illuminate whether the sexual misconduct depicted in the material caused the minor to experience objective physical or mental pain and suffering.

Also:

Certainly, the majority’s approach cannot accurately capture the feelings or mental state of a minor through the confined frame of an isolated image or video.[1]

Although the depiction in the material is relevant to the inquiry, the court’s focus should not be so narrow. Rather than confine the court’s inquiry to the image or video and focus on the victim’s appearance and reaction as portrayed in the visual media, the court should consider all relevant circumstances and ultimately focus on the defendant’s conduct.[2] The court’s inquiry should include the course of conduct between the defendant and the minor, the events leading up to and after the footage, and the susceptibility of the minor to the defendant’s possible manipulation and control, as those considerations yield a more accurate determination of whether a minor may have experienced objective physical pain, emotional suffering, or humiliation due to the events depicted in the material.

[1]Parenthetically, this problem is exemplified in the media by teenage Virginia Giuffre, who appears to be smiling and happy in pictures with then Prince Andrew, despite her alleging that he subjected her to extreme sexual abuse.

[2]Indeed, in other areas of the Sentencing Guidelines, we have emphasized that the "focus of the inquiry is on the defendant’s action, not the victim’s reaction".

Were there ever CSM cases where the minor was deemed not susceptible enough to the defendant's manipulation and control?

Yes; minor males get prosecuted for self-produced CSM all the time.

Some even get charged as an adult for it, which tends to be A-OK with the courts because again, male.

Of course, what's actually being litigated here is more along the lines of

Were there ever child sex abuse cases happening under a mother's own roof where the woman was deemed not susceptible enough to the man's manipulation and control [as in, she gets charged for it]?

and dissenting on the assumption that "the woman isn't being sufficiently Believed (that being coerced != pained emotionally)" in this case, which this dissenter even took pains to point out.

or humiliation immediately after or in the minutes, hours, or days following the sexual misconduct depicted in the material

Again, smuggling in the "consent can and should be withdrawn afterwards" standard. The accedent likely realize this from the other direction; "regrets it afterwards" is not a law on the books.

Wait, so if a teenage boy snaps a picture of his dick , he just committed a felony?

Yes. There have been cases of the police forcing him to do it again to get sufficient evidence to convict.

This is vastly more retarded than what we have in Czech Republic, which is that 15 year olds can screw each other and over 18s (although there, if it's noticed by police they can investigate the relationship for coercion / bad influence (e.g. drugs iirc).

However, any filming of sex involving underage subjects is a felony. (iirc)

That quote is from the dissent. "Susceptibility of the minor to the defendant's possible manipulation and control" is not an actual standard that has been used in any cases. The text of the law criminalizes merely "persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense".

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats