Uber driver in D.C. accused of rape

http://profiles.google.com/spacewatcer Marios P.

crap

GawainLavers

That’s not quite what makes the case newsworthy:

The two agencies rarely air disputes over cases, but Thursday, they contradicted each other publicly at virtually the same moment. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said the office would not prosecute Anouar Habib Trabelsi, and a top D.C. police commander held a news conference outside police headquarters to announce the criminal charge.

I’ve skipped these services because I don’t want my hard-earned dollars going to petulant Randites, but it’s pretty clear that they are wildly less dangerous from this standpoint than regular taxi services.

C W

Are they actually Randroids, or is it just the geeks around them who keep chanting “DISRUPTIVE”?

“it’s pretty clear that they are wildly less dangerous from this standpoint than regular taxi services”Yeah, I’ve been picked up by some ~shady~ services. Uber seems much better in this regard. I’ll also be happy when Uber gets more internal processes towards background checks (which this may not be a failure of, of course.)
- GawainLavers
  
  Don’t really have time to look it up, but definitely Randroids.
  
  The online taxi service thing is fundamentally more secure than regular hailed taxis: for the hailing and for any money to change hands both parties have to have identified themselves on a permanent record with credit card linked accounts (this, of course, also makes it much safer for the driver, who is more likely to be at risk).
http://www.facebook.com/buddhaflow Sasha Shepherd

You mean in how they go out to produce amazing things in the world instead of sitting around bitching on blog comments?

Wikipedia is founded by a ‘Randroid’ too. Hope you don’t use that disgusting capitalist service.
- Boundegar
  
  If you think it’s about “disgusting capitalism,” you must not have ever read Rand, or met anybody who has.
- GawainLavers
  
  Of course I don’t produce anything of value, you can tell because of my lack of a trust fund: I’m obviously a taker, not a maker.
- Fantome_NR
  
  pffftttt. one can both “go out” to “produce amazing things in the world” aaaaaaAaand bitch on blog comments. those are not mutually exclusive activities.
  - http://www.facebook.com/buddhaflow Sasha Shepherd
    
    Of course it’s true, but..time is finite and limited! How many founders of groundbreaking world changing companies do we find putzing about and squabling in comment logs?

foobar

So the case wasn’t strong enough to bring charges, but lets release his name, get him fired, and tar him as an accused rapist for anyone who ever googles his name again.

vancouverrain

A lot of male cab drivers will not pick up unaccompanied women, especially if they are drunk, out of fear of being accused of rape.

Being accused of rape does not equal guilty of rape. That’s for the police and the courts to decide, despite the public’s knee-jerk reaction to believe these accusations without actually seeing any of the evidence themselves.

A lot of mens’ lives have been ruined because of false accusations that only much later were recanted by their accusers. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of the same kind of social sympathy for men accused of crimes as women accused of the same crimes. And the fact that the accused man in question has an Arabic name makes him even more suspect in the eyes of the public.

How would you feel if someone accused you of rape or some other hideous crime, and only your spouse and family believed in your innocence?

Think before you help ruin a person’s life over accusations.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  If you can’t decide guilt, why do you come out in favor of the rights of the rapist?
  
  Unprosecuted rape is extremely common; false accusations of rape are extremely rare.
  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/13/false-rape-allegations-ra_n_2865823.html
  - vancouverrain
    
    Maybe “innocent until proven guilty” is unfashionable, but it’s a lot better than the mob-mentality alternative that inspires virtual lynch mobs that act as judge and jury. It’s exactly the same kind of mentality behind such atrocious practices as “slut-shaming” on social media. The only difference is that few people will speak up in defense of someone accused of rape; it’s not fashionable.
    
    If this man is shown to be guilty in a court of law, then I will gladly condemn him as a rapist.

UVaGrad

Wouldn’t a more accurate headline be “Uber driver not charged with committing a crime”?

That_Anonymous_Coward

Or maybe Limo Driver not charged with crime?

Fantome_NR

I’m sure the Free Market will solve this if it needs solving. The Free Market always does, so long as those pesky regulators don’t interfere, amirite guys?

ethicalcannibal

The false rape allegation defense league seems to be here in force.

http://goodsharer.com/ Aloisius

I think there is a lot of fear among some men of being falsely accused of rape and then having their lives ruined. Considering the statistics on it are all over the place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_accusation_of_rape and the fear that it can happen to anyone does make this fear somewhat justified.

That said, it is almost certainly significantly more likely that a woman was actually raped than not and there is no excuse for assuming the victim is lying. Concern for the victims should still come first. People need to get their priorities straight.
- foobar
  
  You can presume the accused is innocent without presuming the alleged victim is lying, and it’s not unreasonable to ask that if the accusers name is withheld, so should the accused’s.
- ethicalcannibal
  
  It just wears you down to come to any rape related comment thread anywhere on the internet and see the false rape allegation defense league in play. No matter if the victim was 5 or 55, the league will make sure that the rapist gets a fair shake, and we all know that false accusations, blah blah blah.
  
  Every. Single. Time.
  - foobar
    
    Isn’t that how our justice system is supposed to work?