“Everybody’s not going to be lucky enough to get a Netflix special,” Whoopi Goldberg said.
“I think it’s a conversation that is just bigger than just the Menendez brothers.”
Goldberg continued, “There are hundreds of people on death row who are there not because nobody wanted to hear their evidence.
“I think the legal system needs to do its job and reevaluate the new evidence or the evidence that wasn’t seen.
It meant a lot that there were 20-plus family members who came out and said they wanted this new evidence reevaluated.”
The View hosts offered their opinions on Lyle and Erik Menendez’s impending hearing, pointing out that awareness of abuse has increased over the last three decades and raising concerns about whether others in comparable circumstances get the same attention.
Whoopi Goldberg stated, “Not everyone will be fortunate enough to receive a Netflix special.”. The discussion, in my opinion, is about more than just the Menendez brothers. “.”.
Hundreds of people are on death row, Goldberg added, “not because no one wanted to hear their testimony. The reason for this is that some of the evidence was destroyed and dispersed, and the evidence itself was not presented. “..”.
According to Ana Navarro, the court should make decisions rather than the public or the media.
“We watched a Netflix series or a documentary, so this is something that shouldn’t be judged by the court of public opinion,” Navarro stated. “I believe the legal system should fulfill its duty and reconsider the newly discovered or previously undiscovered evidence. It was significant that more than twenty family members came forward to express their desire to have this new evidence reexamined. “..”.
As incoming Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman considers their case, the brothers will appear in the Van Nuys courthouse on Monday for a critical status hearing to determine whether their parole hearing scheduled for December 11 will go forward or be postponed.
Both attorneys, Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, are requesting that Judge Michael Jesic lower the two defendants’ life sentence without the possibility of parole, which was handed down nearly thirty years ago.
At 10:30 a.m., the brothers will make a virtual appearance. A. 1:30 p.m. PT. m. From Richard J. ET. San Diego’s Donovan Correctional Facility.
Male Sexual Abuse.
According to Sunny Hostin, rape is still one of the crimes that goes unreported the most, particularly when it involves boys.
At least one out of six men, according to research, have been sexually abused or assaulted as adults or as children. The fact that many men never report their abuse because of social stigma, fear, or shame means that this figure probably understates the actual extent.
“The least reported crime in our nation is rape. How can you expect a child to come out to a mandatory reporter or to a parent when their entire life depends on the person abusing them? That is why child rape, especially child rape of boys, is so rare in families, according to Hostin.
Lyle told his cousin about the abuse, and the cousin told his mother, Kitty Menendez, but nothing was done, Sara Haines concurred. She went on to say that people are frequently “punished as a result of that.”. “.
During their initial trial, Diane Hernandez testified that Lyle had told her about the abuse he had experienced in 1974.
Hernandez stated in the courtroom, “He [Lyle] proceeded to indicate to me by touching himself down there and saying that his dad and him had been touching each other down there.”. “I went to fetch Kitty, took her downstairs, and explained the situation to her. She didn’t accept my story. “,”.
Hernandez claimed it was the last time she ever talked about what Lyle had told her until the day in court and that she and Lyle never spoke about it again.
Boys who are victims of sexual abuse and assault face additional challenges because such cases are less common and often less acknowledged, with these difficulties being even greater decades ago, Deborah Tuerkheimer, a former Manhattan prosecutor and author of Credible, told Newsweek.
“When victims don’t look or behave the way we expect them to, we tend to find them not credible, and boys don’t really fit into the popular understanding of who’s a victim of abuse,” the author stated.
“For a survivor, not being believed from the start can be one of the most damaging experiences,” Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, vice president of communications at the anti-sexual violence group RAINN, told Newsweek. The degree of belief victims are given influences their entire path and their likelihood of receiving justice from the law.
Should This Be the Method Used by the Criminal Justice System?
Three strategies should be used by the criminal justice system, according to Alyssa Farah Griffin: rehabilitation, crime deterrence, and punishment.
Farah Griffin stated, “I believe the individuals have demonstrated that they are capable of rehabilitation.”. “They have served over 30 years and admitted to the crime they committed. Nobody is disputing that what they did was incorrect. They made a completely incorrect decision. However, I believe there is a sense of helplessness that reflects their experience of experiencing years and years of victimization, system failure, and failure from their own family members. “.
“I think we know statistically, unfortunately, that a lot of people do not get rehabilitated in prison, but by all accounts, they have,” Hostin stated. “They have worked on themselves while incarcerated. Numerous other prisoners have benefited from them. College degrees have been awarded to them. “..”.
Lyle, 56, has a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine and an associate’s degree in sociology. He has developed four programs to assist prisoners while incarcerated. USA Today stated that he was also the author of the WIRE bulletin, which informed the prison population of issues pertaining to the Inmate Advisory Council.
Erik, 53, graduated from Southwestern College in 2022 with a Certificate in American Sign Language, obtained an associate degree in sociology, and was accepted to the University of California. He developed five programs for inmates.
