Josh Duggar

[LaterBloomer]

I'm very disappointed with the judge who ordered that the records be purged. He is playing into folks' ignorance about the law when he says he's doing it for the victims. In criminal cases, the indictment is "The State [or Commonwealth] of _____ versus [Defendant's name]," not "[Victim's Name] versus [Defendant's Name]. It's a common misconception that the victim is bringing the cause of action against the defendant. S/he isn't. It's the State. Society has passed laws to maintain order. It's society trying a defendant in a court of law for violating society's norms. (Victim's get their chance in civil court.) It's the state's way of bringing order. One hopes that victims and the community see the law in action, and it prevents vigilantism.

To purge these records "for the victims" is a travesty of justice. (Although Mr. Duggar did wrong, I'm not very pleased with the way the records got out. Looks like someone in the courthouse was a bit of a vigilante, if I understand everything correctly, and didn't respect the confidentiality of juvenile records. To me, that's a bigger crime than Mr. Duggar's. If we can't expect the judicial system to be unbiased, why should we expect anything from it?)