Comments on: This is How Much a Woman is Worth in America

By: bob

bob — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:36:24 +0000

Heard about this coincidentally, could NOT believe it until I verified. What in the name of god did these people have on the judge? This makes not a shred of sense. Like the Franklin county judge that let a guy walk.(date rape, same story only death-free) Judge Schaperkoetter, check it out,abducted from the Kitchen in Ladue, but tried in Franklin County.

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:24:16 +0000

I went to high school with him but I only found out about this last night, so I Googled it and found your blog post. John always seemed off balance. I think it’s truly sick that he only got five years in prison. He certainly is a menace to society. If it were up to me, he’d spend his entire life behind bars.

By: Man With Mental Disability Sentenced to 100 Years for Sexual Assault : The Curvature

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:10:38 +0000

[...] I can tell you of a man who raped a woman, and whose administration of a date rape drug killed her, and is serving only 5 years. While it’s not sexual violence, I can also tell you of a man who killed his first wife and [...]

By: anja

anja — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:04:57 +0000

ok so the story really pissed me off so I started a facebook group called tressa gross’s story where i have copied this article to, please join and send an invite to your friends so as many people as possible hear about this. If you knew tressa and would like to upload a photo then please feel free. If you would like the group removed then also just say so.

By: anja

anja — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:39:29 +0000

all I want to say is that the article was brilliantly written, you feel the pain as if she was in your own family. I will be emailing this link to all my friends here in the uk as it is truly shocking and Tressa’s story should be heard worldwide.

By: Renee

Renee — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:47:02 +0000

Clearly the criminal justice system did not see this as rape. The language that they used made that more than obvious. By sentencing this man to five years all that they did was give tacit approval to his behavior. This is not anything remotely close to justice.

As for the mother, I understand what it is to love a child as a mother myself. There are limits. Perhaps she felt guilty knowing that she had raised a rapist. She needs to own what her son is. Until she acknowledges what her son is all she is doing is reinforcing in his mind that his behavior was “accidental”.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:22:38 +0000

Actually, truth be told, so do I.
Not because I don’t believe in Death (kind of hard not to) but because I don’t believe in Death as a tool of the state. Just likely teachers beating students for misbehavior, there are lines that institutions should not be allowed to cross. However, if we as a nation are not going to force the change and the country is going to prosecute for such a penalty the priority of who it gets used on seems twisted to me. IF you are going to use it as a penalty this seems a likely instance for me.

Plus, this story really, really, upsets me and I was venting.

Thanks for letting me.

By: Cara

Cara — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:39:36 +0000

For the record, I’m strongly opposed to the death penalty. I’m not going to refuse comments that differ in opinion, but I wanted to my stance on the issue clear.

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:21:47 +0000

What the fuck!
If we are going to have the death penalty in the United States why the hell don’t we use for all its worth?!
Rape someone? Death Penalty!
Kill someone? Death Penalty!

Seems pretty fucking straight forward.
This guy gets 5 years and we are sending black men and latinos to jail for 20 years for selling crack cocaine?!

Vigilante justice is at least justice.
Maybe we need some.

I can’t begin to describe how much this pisses me off.

By: Steph (Tressa's cousin)

Steph (Tressa's cousin) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:49:23 +0000

All of her life, Tressa was a fighter. She fought for what she believed in. She fought if she felt she was being wronged. Hell, she would even fight for you if it even boiled down to it. But there is one thing that Tressa CAN’T fight for: her WRONGFUL death.

Today marks the 6th year of that horrible, tragic day. Words can’t even express how much I miss her. And for me, myself, to read these articles and how much this case is truly impacted people, is remarkable. Because even if after her death, Tressa can still touch the lives of people.

You know, I have her so much crap from John Berger’s family, saying things to the extent “Oh, he hasn’t even seen daylight since he has been in jail.” I mean, who cares? How do you think our family feels after six years? Berger, would you like a cookie? Five years is all you have to pay for the price of a life, a life of a beautiful, intelligent, remarkable woman who surely would have done spectacular things with her life. So, when you say “I am so very, very sorry”, don’t waste your time! If you were so sorry, you would have tried to help her. If you were so sorry, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. If you were so sorry, today instead of remembering her life, I might be having a conversation with her on the phone or meet up with her for a drink. So, spare me that BS. I don’t feel sorry for you. Wait, yes I do. The only thing that I feel sorry for you is knowing what you took away from so many people who loved that girl, including myself. And who knows if you are even sorry.

So as ironic as it is all this coming to a close on the anniversary of her death, Tressa, we love you. I hope you can feel that wherever you are. In some sick way, justice has been served. However, people have received larger sentences for robbing banks. But that’s another issue that makes me angry and i’m not getting into that. And, if you can’t fight for yourself, we will all fight for you, as I know you would have done for us!