Could some literate math guru figure out what the odds are that girls in the system will be abused? They seem to make up a smaller portion of inmates, but about half of the victims of assault by staff. As I barely read much of it, it is unclear to me whether sex with a staff member can count as consensual intercourse.

I think Schad's point (and I agree) is that there are any number of things that deserve more outrage than Polanski, even if you find Polanski outrageous. If in fact people -- ordinary people in venues such as the fray, or better yet somewhere else -- were making arguments about the "absence of perfection" in the system, there might be a potential for useful reforms, funding, etc.* My impression is that the problem is much greater in state facilities for adults.

In other words, outrage about Polanski is a kind of speech act designed to show that the speaker is a guardian of morality. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I would never prevent any many, woman, or child in this great nation of ours from performing empty speech acts. But as a platform for discussing broader societal problems, Polanski sucks. The discussion Schad is suggesting, and Fritz is taking up, strikes me to be of a different nature altogether.

On an unrelated, wholly banal note, I would rather be in Italy, where I could ride Vespas and say "ciao" a lot. We all dream of telling different stories about ourselves.

*If, for example, the difficulty of recruiting staff is a "little-known fact," it seems to me Schad's point is made.