Letters to the Editor
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Vitter should be the one on the rope, not her.
Sad.
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A history of suicidal thought?
Is that really an accurate and responsible way of describing her? You paint with a rather broad and hysterical brush Ms. Hepola. I would say that depression and possible suicidal thoughts are appropriate and not unusual responses to life in an American jail. Does that equal a "history of suicidal thought"? She also stated in recent interviews-- unequivocally I might add-- that she had absolutely no intention of killing herself and was going to fight this thing to the end... including an appeal.
I'm not saying it's a conspiracy-- she may very well have killed herself. What I'm saying is that I'm sick of reading irresponsible journalists kneejerk reactions to situations which they really don't understand. You're perpetuating myths that will eventually become "reality." It's like CNN saying that Ms. Palfrey had stated in interviews that she intended to kill herself-- but they don't say which interviews. I've yet to see one of these apparent interviews. She may have said she had no intention of going to prison-- that doesn't translate to I'm going to commit suicide.
So, as a fellow journalist, I'm going to ask you to reply to my post. Please give a list of suicidal referrences which prove a history of thought. One or two referrences do not a history (she was 50 something?) make.
If you can't provide the referrences I suggest you remove that history phrase.
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Can you imagine reacting to a man's actions in the same way?
Look, the woman was a criminal. We can argue the merits of legalizing prostitution, but for now it is, and looks to remain, a criminal act. She got caught and was prosecuted. Is this surprising? Is this really a question of the big, bad government ganging up on some helpless, innocent female? Did it not occur to her, as exposed madams in high profile cities (think Heidi Fleiss, or the Mayflower Madam) always find themselves in the media spotlight, that running a brothel in D.C. catering to the nation's politicians meant she ran the risk of not only getting busted but being subject to very public exposure?
Can you imagine a man busted for being a pimp claiming to be victized in this way? Or a male prostitute? Would anyone pay attention?
Either women are equals and can take the same punishment men do when they break the law, or they are indeed the weaker sex and need protection. It doesn't work both ways.
My guess is this woman needed psychological counseling, but the time for that was a long time ago. I'm sorry about her death, I think it's awful. But playing up the victim card in this situation is a perfect example of the hypocrisies of a certain brand of feminism.
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does the sentence fit the crime
I think I heard that she was sentanced to over 50 years in prison. WTF? That is an appropriate sentance for rape or murder, not pandering. Male or female, this is an outrageous penalty for what, in my opinion, appears to be a victimless crime.
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I am doubtful . . .
Strange that she has been quoted by other reporters as saying if she was found dead as a suicide, it would be murder, and that she feared for her life.
I was fortunate to correspond with her briefly last summer, and the full list of phone calls has yet to be indexed, because they had been scanned from the original paper phone bills, but not converted into text files for cross referencing.
She seemed overwhelmed by the whole affair, and did not deserve this fate, whatever the truth about her demise is.
Personally, I am doubtful about her reported means of passing, and I hope there will be more than a cursory investigation, but it IS Florida, after all…
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"Apparent suicide." "possible suicide." "No foul play suspected."
That's how deaths like this are usually reported.
But this death was reported as a suicide, absolutely definitely without doubt, from minute one. Even when the investigation was so incomplete that the identity of the body was still in doubt. (At least, that's how it played on CNN.)
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
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Suicidal Thoughts?
Actually, a quick search of articles on this matter reveals that after the suicide of the UMBC professor moonlighting for her, the "DC Madam" said she would not act similarly. From the Washington Post:
One of the biggest revelations from the show was that one of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.
"She wasn't making enough money, so she decided to do a little moonlighting," Palfrey said of Britton. "She was publicly outed... She couldn't take the humiliation."
Howard County, Md., police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said earlier Friday that Britton was working alone when she was arrested and that investigators had not connected her case to Palfrey.
Palfrey said she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of."
One has to start thinking conspiracy when someone who previously said that she would out anyone to help her own case decided to remain silent and that person, who stated that she would not commit suicide, suddenly commits suicide. Seems to me that people are being kept quiet.
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To anyone who believes this was really a "suicide"...
... I have a "cakewalk" in Iraq I'd like to sell you. Also a Christian "family values" senator in Louisiana.
Remember who else was rumored to be among Palfrey's clientele? Mission accomplished, Mr. Cheney.
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@Christopher1988
Hypocrisy? Her clients committed a crime, too. Have any been prosecuted? Isn't Christian family-values "Diaper Dave" Vitter still in the Senate? You must really hate women to imagine any kind of "feminist" double standard in this story.
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DC madam
It's the rich what gets the gravy, it's the poor what gets the blame.
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Women don't hang themselves.
That in and of itself should prick up the cops ears. Women use pills, occasionally a gun but rarely hang themselves.
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Palfrey
Two of the women involved have committed "suicide." Not one of the clients involved has been charged. David Vitter was not forced to testify.
I am very skeptical of conspiracy claims. Nevertheless, doesn't this situation merit a thorough investigation? We know there were people from very high political levels who paid for her services. Why don't we know their names? Is this another one of those stories that is just going to conveniently go away?