I don’t think it’s depressing at all. I think it is a very good sign - even if the accused are acquitted.
It would be really easy for the prosecutors to go after the rapists only; most of us in the commentariat would nod sagely and assume justice had been done. Maybe a few posts on Jezebel or Salon would argue that the adults were culpable too, but they’d easily be dismissed as shrill feminists looking to start a witch hunt. (Never in those words, of course. Except on Hannity.)
But these charges say to me that the prosecutors are actually doing their jobs, not just enough to look like they’re doing their jobs on CNN. Getting evidence for charges like this is hard work, particularly when the community where you have to gather that evidence is hostile. They’re not going to let anyone sneak away while the publicity spotlight’s glaring down on a couple of loutish teenagers.
Good for them.
