The XX Factor: What women really think.

Rape-Proof Pants?

BBC News reports that a court in Rome ruled that “Women in jeans 'cannot be raped.' “ What a wonderful coup this information will be for parents of girls. Just imagine, you no longer have to worry about preserving your daughter’s virtue—just buy her a pair of jeans. And to think of all the things that young women have had to avoid for years: staying out late, walking home alone after dark, perusing dark alleys, dressing too provocatively, letting a boy drive her home. No longer a worry! Just put some jeans on under your prom dress! This could also be a terrific boon to the clothing industry, although I suspect that while chastity jeans would be a big seller among parents, not so much for the teens.

Yet Another Legal Black Hole

Yet more on Darren Mack trial

Opening statements in the Darren Mack trial yesterday revealed some sort of crazy quilt defense strategy that seems to involve tossing out at least 12 alternative theories and hoping one of them resonates with each the jurors. Of course the blame-the-victim prong involves painting Mack’s estranged wife, Charla, as a violent, sexually voracious (and deviant) “terrorist” and the judge as lifelong a man-hater. I guess this explains why the jury questionnaires were all so focused on the prospective jury’s histories of violence, abuse, and marital discord. The plan was to seat a jury that was already steamed up about gender equality, ugly divorces, physical violence, then appeal to every single one of those grievances.

This odd split defense – the first murder was self defense and the shooting of the judge was insanity -- was pursued over defense counsel’s objections. It’s all something of a mess, but laced though it are strong defense claims that the unfairness faced by fathers in family court are pervasive and unbearable, and that the injustices of Mack’s divorce were like those of the American colonists fighting the British – only worse. Glenn Sacks calls this the “Mary Winkler” defense and cautions that it “only works for women.”

Darren Mack Trial and Fathers Rights

I must confess to a more than passing obsession with the Darren Mack trial, which gets under way today in Las Vegas. Mack stands accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife Charla with their 7-year-old daughter upstairs in the home, then shooting – sniper style – at the family court judge who was presiding over their divorce and custody dispute. Of course part of my fascination is that I knew Darren and Charla quite well, back when I clerked at a Reno divorce firm.

The current jury pool offers a snapshot of everything weird and wonderful about Vegas, including, at present, a former go-go dancer who has been married three times, a veteran trapeze performer, as well as a floor supervisor for a local casino who’s studied martial arts since he was 5. But I am mostly curious to see whether the defense will indeed be styled as a referendum on father’s rights and their alleged unequal treatment in family courts. After the shooting, Mack left a message on his cousin’s answering machine asking, “If anything happens to me, please make sure that the true story about the injustices that are going on in that courtroom get out to the media and the public.” I guess he’ll finally get his wish.