One of the chief paradoxes of our culture [is] that the welfare of its children, its _future_, is placed almost exclusively in the hands of people of low status, a class it holds in contempt.

— Joan Smith

Roach's statement after his acquittal was dignified, but his supporters were angry. They demanded to know why the case was ever brought, claiming that the actor was a victim of the "hysteria" created by revelations about Jimmy Saville. It's a curious conclusion to draw from a "not guilty" verdict; there are courtrooms where the conviction rate is 100 percent, but they tend to be in totalitarian states. In serious criminal cases in England and Wales, the rate is around 82 percent, and I would be seriously worried if every defendant were to be found guilty. The Independent, 9 February 2014

— Joan Smith

Talk of "witch-hunts" conceals an inconvenient fact: men charged with rape stand a better chance of walking freer than other defendants. The conviction rate in rape trials – 63 percent in 2012/13 – is quite a lot lower. Prosecutors are taking a bigger risk when they bring rape cases to court, especially when the alleged offenses happened decades ago, leaving no forensic evidence. The Independent, 9 February 2014

— Joan Smith

The issue which faced the jury was this: was Ratcliffe a clever criminal, aware of what he was doing and determined to avoid capture? ... In a sense, it was the wrong question. The battle that was fought out in court - the mad/bad dichotomy - both substitutes for and obscures the real dilemma raised by the Yorkshire Ripper case: is Ratcliffe a one-off, sui generis as I have heard one psychiatrist describe him, someone who stands outside our culture and has no relation to it? Those who assert that Ratcliffe is mad are in essence saying yes to this question; madness is a closed category, one over which we have no control and for which we bear no responsibility. The deranged stand apart from us; we cannot be blamed for their insanity. Thus, the urge to characterize Ratcliffe as mad as powerful emotional origins; it has as much to do with how we see ourselves and the society in which we live... It is a distancing mechanism, a way of establishing a comforting gulf between ourselves and a particularly unacceptable criminal.

— Joan Smith