The Supreme Court Has Made A Decision About Bill Cosby
The big guys have stepped in!
This article is more than 2 years old
In a time when many of Hollywood’s chickens have come home to roost, with former Hollywood untouchables like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey finally suffering for years’ worth sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations, former comedy sacred cow Bill Cosby is a free man. After being convicted of sexual assault in 2018, Cosby’s conviction was overturned last year. The decision was like a blow to the stomach for many, and the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to consider the case. Today, the highest court in the land is saying they’re declining to review the case.
Deadline reports that Pennsylvania prosecutors’ attempt to get the overturned conviction of Bill Cosby put back in place has failed. Cosby’s lawyer called it a victory for his client. The Supreme Court was not expected to consider the case, but the original state Supreme Court decision, according the Pennsylvania lawyers, sets a dangerous precedent.
Bill Cosby was set free last year after the state Supreme Court decided the former actor’s right to due process had been infringed. When former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s claims that Cosby had assaulted her were investigated in 2005, then Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor declined to prosecute the actor, and announced this publicly. Cosby was then forced to testify in a civil case, during which his Fifth Amendment privilege to not incriminate himself could not be invoked. Cosby would later be convicted using the testimony in the civil case, and last year the state Supreme Court deemed that this was not constitutional because the previous D.A. had said he would not pursue charges against the actor. Essentially, the state Supreme Court decided the Pennsylvania prosecutors used the civil case to circumvent Cosby’s Fifth Amendment privilege.
The state Supreme Court’s decision, the Pennsylvania prosecutors argue, threatens to transform “similar decisions not to prosecute into effective grants of immunity in other states.” Meanwhile, Bill Cosby maintains his innocence and claims that — in spite of the over 50 accusers who joined Constand’s voice — everything that happened between him and Constand was consensual. Cosby’s lawyer said the decision proves “that cheating will never get you far in life” and highlights “the corruption that lies within Montgomery County District’s Attorney Office.”
Regardless of whether or not he’s in prison, Bill Cosby will likely never recover from the public’s new view of his legacy. Serving as just one piece of the proof is the docu-series We Need to Talk About Cosby. Written and directed by W. Kamau Bell, the series recently aired on Showtime, including brand new allegations about the man who used to rule the sitcom arena. Among other things, Cosby’s former The Cosby Show co-stars alleged that it was known all around set that the comedian would regularly have women — who he allegedly told he was auditioning for The Cosby Show — joining him in his dressing room. The actor responded to the series in an official statement, saying it was part of a long line of “distorted and omitted truths” and that Cosby was an undeserving target of the media.
