Penn students’ parents have varying levels of involvement in the college application process. Some make a long list and drag their offspring to each school; some, like mine, glance over a list of the student’s making, nod, and remark upon a few choices. My parents looked at the schools I was considering and immediately approved of most, but hesitated over Penn and Columbia.

“Philadelphia and New York are big cities — are you sure you’d feel comfortable and safe there?” they asked.

“Of course,” I answered. “I know I’m used to Oklahoma City’s general friendliness and safety, but no one would go to those schools if they were that dangerous, right?”

Apparently, I was covering my ears and humming to not hear what I knew — the crime rate in big cities is high, and the sexual assault rate in American colleges is a statistic often cited but seldom really contemplated.

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Remember the prostitute, raped at gunpoint, whose trial ended with the judge dropping all rape charges and converting them to “theft of services”?

The story’s not over. After a blowup in the blogosphere, Philadelphia activists began a grassroots movement supporting the disbarment of Municipal Judge Theresa Carr Deni. On Tuesday, Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Jane Leslie Dalton issued a statement that spoke forcefully against Deni’s decision, stating that “The victim has been brutalized twice in this case: first by the assailants, and now by the court.”

So now there’s controversy over Deni’s ruling and over Dalton’s statement as the rest of the bar reacts. Personally, I’m just glad that someone in the system managed to stand up and say how ridiculous and painfully biased the decision was. If it stands, it sets an awful precedent.

With the myriad shootings and other violent crimes that have recently taken place, the Philadelphia judiciary doesn’t need to give its population more excuses to commit crimes. Kudos to Dalton for her strong statement, and kudos to everyone who sent letters of complaint to the bar. Justice still has a chance.

I’m pretty cynical about a lot of things. The justice system? Definitely. But every once in a while, I read a story that just leaves me speechless with disbelief.

Seriously, wtf?!.

Essentially, a woman placed an ad on Craigslist and met the guy who answered in North Philly. They negotiated a deal for an hour of oral and vaginal sex (for one hundred and fifty dollars), but then he and two friends raped her at gunpoint instead. Since she consented to have sex with the man beforehand and didn’t get paid, Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni decided that it wasn’t rape or assault, just “theft of services.”

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