Section II · SubversionExhibit S-001
Double Standard
Suspended sentences for a street assault vs. jail for racist tweets
■ The pieces
- Daily Mail: Muslim girl gang, who kicked Rhea Page in the head yelling 'kill the white slag,' FREED (Dec 6, 2011)https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070562/Muslim-girl-gang-kicked-Rhea-Page-head-yelling-kill-white-slag-FREED.html
- Full Fact: Did a group of Muslim women escape jail for attack because they were 'not used to alcohol'? (Dec 8, 2011)https://fullfact.org/news/did-group-muslim-women-escape-jail-attack-because-they-were-not-used-alcohol/
- NPR: British Student Jailed For Racist Tweets About Collapsed Soccer Player (Mar 27, 2012)https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/03/27/149488330/british-student-jailed-for-racist-tweets-about-collapsed-soccer-player
■ What they show
In December 2011 the Daily Mail reported that four women who kicked Rhea Page in the head during a racially abusive street attack in Leicester received suspended sentences. In March 2012 student Liam Stacey was jailed for 56 days for racist tweets about footballer Fabrice Muamba. Placed side by side, the cases raise questions about how UK courts weigh online speech against physical violence.
■ The other side
Full Fact found that the suspended sentences were most likely linked to the judge's acceptance that the women may have faced unreasonable force from the victim's boyfriend, not to the defence's point that they were 'not used to alcohol'.
Who it helped: Neither partyUK court stories, no U.S. party claim.
■ Why it's here
This exhibit is filed under Subversion, not graded as a lie. What subversion means →