Hmmmm......

I had one reader drop me a note observing something that's been on people's minds lately.
There's something wrong with the whole scenario when the question is: Did the senator do something he shouldn't have when he was in bed with the page?
There's also what one reporter was thinking her heart of hearts that I couldn't express any better. I think Sheri Levisay over at the Argus Leader's Voices blog had it perfect when she noted:
Only one observation: How would we treat this whole situation if this were a coach on a trip with athletes? It’s the closest analogy I can come up with. If nothing illegal was committed, that coach would still certainly be fired, and would most likely never work in a school again. To be sure, Sutton’s primary job in the Legislature is not to work with pages, but I think it is not unreasonable to suggest that, if any sexual contact at all occurred, Sutton is not fit to serve in the Legislature.
Read that all here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Watching Duffy is painful. He is being "mean" to that kid. If I was on the committee that would go against him.

I still can't believe Danny would go through with this.

Just for being dumb enough to sleep in the same bed, is reason enough to throw him out.
Anonymous said…
I understand the argument put forward about the teacher analogy ... but Dan knew this kid for YEARS. He went to school with his brothers, and he was a close family friend. They just happened to be working as Leg & Page at the same time for 2 weeks. That is the only professional type relationship between them.

The kid had a per diem to spend on housing - and he chose to stay with Dan - with his folks' permission - to save $$.

Not the same as teacher/student. Not at all.

Maybe scout leader? or a chaperone on a school trip?

I suppose stupidity could make a person unfit in the legislature - but would someone please tell the electorate that.
Anonymous said…
DAN SUTTON = GUILTY
Anonymous said…
5:50pm - As you say, he was a "kid". That's what we should all remember here. Regardless of what he did or did not do - he was just a kid. Dan Sutton was an adult. What happens between two consenting adults, in my opinion, is their own business. But, again, we're talking about a kid.

And as an adult, Dan Sutton should have known better. Plain and simple. I don't care about party politics, the honorable thing would have been to resign and not force this kid to go through the public spectacle of a trial.

I am ashamed of Dan Sutton. I am ashamed that he is a South Dakotan. He should have known better and he should resign.
Anonymous said…
Andrew Tate of Mitchell, look it up. Coaches are allowed to do anything they want. You may remember this case from the news. Parents notified the school months prior when they were promised a resolution.

Reason: Principals all seem to have this God complex. They commonly over extend their responsibility to the point of taking cases of criminal activity out of the hands of where it belongs...in court.

It's time to make Principals, Principals again, not prosecutors. We've allowed the schools to over protect students.
Anonymous said…
If the page slept in the same bed as Sutton, it was for one of two reasons: either one of them wanted to have sexual activities, or they are so familiar (as in family-like) that they did not consider anything of this nature ever occurring, therefore not defensing themselves from later accusations of the event.

I'm trying to think back to my state golf trip a few years ago (to consider the coach comparison someone just made). I think our school put the four golfers (male) and the coach(male) in the same room, and I'm trying to remember how we slept. I honestly do not remember, but I think that proves that it was not an issue to us at the time. To that end, why is it so different for two 18 year old males to sleep in the bed together as a 30 or 40 year old coach and an 18 year old. They are all adults. They are all male. If this issue is as far reaching as some are stretching it, maybe the SDHSAA will have to make a rule that only one person sleeps in a bed relating to any SDHSAA events, maybe even one person per room. As we all know, approximately 10% of humans are homosexual. We would never let a HS boy and girl sleep in the same room, so maybe we shouldn't let boys either.

Where should the PC end?
Anonymous said…
***edit: familial
Anonymous said…
What about giving them both a polygraph?
Anonymous said…
10:46pm - PC ends when the 18 year old accuses the adult of sexual molestation.
Anonymous said…
447, the 18 year old is an adult as well. How about adult responsiblities?
Anonymous said…
7:58: The page was an adult, but there was an imbalance of power. That's what raises this to the level of abuse.
Anonymous said…
Anyone who went on high school trips in South Dakota, whether school- or church-related, knows that kids stay in the same room and even the same bed as chaperones. This does not make the chaperones stupid, just vulnerable to s/he said - s/he said situations.

If the page is telling the truth, then yes, you gotta feel sorry for him, but if the page is lying, then you gotta feel sorry for Sutton.

The big question -- if it all comes down to 50-50, what's the Senate committee gonna do?
Anonymous said…
11:31

Are you serious? Is it common practice in this state for adult chaperones to share beds with students/kids? I grew up in a neighboring state and went on a number of overnight trips in High School(during the mid to late 1980's) and the chaperones never, ever stayed with the kids. They would position their rooms among the students' rooms so that they could best keep an eye on them, but never slept in the same room even. I think it would have been weird then, and the idea is still weird for me now.

You SD people: is this the standard? Just curious...
Anonymous said…
10:46 pm - the reason you can't remember the sleeping arrangment is because you are selecting memory. The situtaion are different. You would be accused of enciting an orgy. Either way it violates a trust relationship.

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