Extra Credit For Being From A Good Family-- And For Non-Traditional Rape

What does "from a good family" mean? White and well-off? Religious? And what does it mean to say a politicians is "too old?" And what does it mean when you put those things together. New Jersey Superior Court Judge James Troiano, a 70 year old Republican hack politician, became a judge in 1992 and retired in 2011 but started serving again the following year to help alleviate the crowded system. He has something of a record for giving the benefit of the doubt to young white men accused of serious crimes while granting no such leniency to young men of color of the same age. He also is more harsh on what he calls "traditional rape" than on something in his head that is some other kind of rape.

On Tuesday the Star-Journal reported that "In two unrelated cases involving 16-year-old boys accused of sexually assaulting juveniles, New Jersey family court judges rejected efforts to try them as adults. In one case, a judge found the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl was not 'especially heinous or cruel,' while the judge in the second matter noted that the defendant is an Eagle scout and 'comes from a good family.' In both cases, the state appellate court reversed the decisions and chastised the family court judges for how they handled the matters." The second case was the one in Troiano's court.

Troiano rejected a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office bid to waive a 16-year-old, identified as G.M.C., to adult court for an alleged sexual assault at a party in 2017.

About 30 youths had gathered in a basement for a pajama-themed party in which at least some attendees were drinking. In a secluded area of the basement, G.M.C. allegedly assaulted a drunk 16-year-old girl and recorded the incident on his cellphone, according to the appellate ruling.

He allegedly shared the video with friends and sent a text stating “When your first time having sex was rape.”

In seeking a waiver to adult court, prosecutors said G.M.C.’s actions were “sophisticated and predatory,” arguing that he later lied to the girl about the existence of the video while at the same time sharing it with others.

“Filming a cellphone video while committing the assault was a deliberate act of debasement,” prosecutors said.

Troiano, however, said that the defendant “comes from a good family who put him in an excellent school where he was doing extremely well” and noted that he is an Eagle scout.

The judge also expressed concern over whether the prosecution had explained to the girl and her family “the devastating effect a waiver would have on G.M.C.’s life.”

In addition, he questioned the prosecution’s claim that the defendant’s actions were predatory and opined, “I think it’s an issue here, whether or not this young lady was intoxicated to the point that she didn’t understand what was going on.”

In reversing Troiano’s decision, appellate court judges found that he had decided the case for himself, rather than weighing the merits of the waiver application.

“In denying waiver, the trial court minutely considered the circumstances of the offense, made an independent assessment of the juvenile’s culpability, and considered G.M.C’s prior good character … His consideration of these elements, however, sounded as if he had conducted a bench trial on the charges rather than neutrally reviewed the state’s application.”

Troiano said he he doesn't believe that the rape of the drunk girl was "in any way a calculation or cruelty on his part or sophistication or a predatory nature" and that "this young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well... He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college." What's clear is that Troiano thinks its part of his job to make sure that the rot among American elites continues on course. This is the heart and soul of conservatism. "His scores for college entry were very high," said Troiano, who was also impressed by the rapist's "extracurricular activities, including being an Eagle Scout."

Troiano referred to the young girl who was raped-- and whose head was repeated banged into the while while he was raping her-- "the alleged rape victim." He said he suspected she wasn't so drunk as to have been amenable and that "both sides" should have been taken into account by the prosectors.

The appeals court didn't tell Troiano not to continue on the bench.