Week
of
7/18/97:		 Should Bill Cosby permit the prosecution of Autumn Jackson?



Name: KCopeland
Email: gcopeland@wue.cybersurf.de
Response: Autumn's actions and timing was all wrong. However, there must be an underlying reason for trying to get more money from Mr. Cosby besides the obvious one; greed. Only Autumn, her mother and Mr. Cosby know the reason. Most people have rallied behind Mr. Cosby during this ordeal because of his so-called "good guy" image and the untimely death of his son. It just goes to show people that even Mr. Cosby has feet of clay. I truly feel for his family. I hope they have forgiveness not only for him.


Name: SHELL
Email:
Response: PREACH "SERIOUS IN CHICAGO"!! I DON'T KNOW IF COSBY'S HER DAD, BUT JUST FUNNELLING MONEY ISN'T ENOUGH. MEN-STOP MAKING BABIES IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SHARE AN INTRIGAL PART OF THEIR LIVES. DAUGHTERS LEARN HOW MEN SHOULD TREAT THEM FROM FATHERS. AND LADIES, LET'S NOT JUST KEEP HAVING BABIES WITH MEN WE REALLY DON'T KNOW. WILL HE BE WITH YOU AND THE CHILD? JUST WAIT FOR THE GOD-SENT MATE AND DO IT RIGHT!!


Name: Hustle man
Email: B1More1@aol.com
Response: If not Bill Cosby, then who should turn the other cheek? If ever there was a case for a plea bargain this is it. Yes, Autumn is wrong. Yes, she committed a crime. I believe Bill should negotiate to get her some help. It would be easy for Cosby to do nothing and allow the system to follow through. However, our Capitalist System played a part in the development of Autumns Greedy attempt. The Capitalist tenet of America has this country in a place where there is money for prisions but no moeny for education or recreation. African Americans need thier own New World Order.


Name: R. Gaston
Email: rgaston@worldnet.att.net
Response: The verdict in the Cosby vs. Jackson extortion trial has been rendered and apparently, in this instance, justice is blind. But not so blind as to embrace misguided sentiment for a young lady who sought to negotiate with her so-called father with a gun held to his head. In the words of an old washed up comedian, Yakov Smirnoff, "What a country!!!" But the court of public opinion has yet to issue its verdict. Is Bill Cosby the father of Autumn (You owe me ) Jackson? Was one hundred thousand dollars enough to pay for one night of casual sex with a skeezer? Did Bill Cosby have a right to have casual sex and not be made a father? The biting humor of this opening statement should provide for much spirited debate but one unalterable fact remains: Fathers please teach your sons, "that your sperm is no longer your sperm once it leaves your body and whatever receptacle obtains it becomes the master of your fate." It's not hard to imagine Bill Cosby as a candidate for seduction or extortion. After all he is a rich man, once revered by most all unbiased Americans regardless of their cultures and he is frequently in the presence of some obviously very intelligent and attractive women. Yet his predicament brings to mind the old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover" because one of those good looking women had an ulterior motive. She wanted a baby and it mattered not that Mr. Cosby did not agree to undertake this endeavor with her. She made a unilateral decision that he must now pay for with the loss of reputation and an untold amount of future income from endorements. In hindsight, I am sure he would either have abstained, giving credence to abstinence is best, from having sex with Autumn's mom, should have used several condoms, or he would have forced fed her RU486, Clorox, or some other home remedy to prevent unwanted pregnancy. But let's examine something in a serious light. Autumn is over twenty-one years old. Her mother reportedly received something over one hundred thousand dollars from Cosby to keep quiet about her giving birth to the trick baby, hmm better substitute love child instead. Simple math says twenty-one goes into one hundred thousand how many times? Seems kinda cheap for a man who is reportedly worth nigh on a billion bucks doesn't it? That works out to roughly $397.00 a month over the course of twenty-one years. I'd say it was relatively inexpensive in terms of dollars and cents but very costly in terms of the cost to his reputation and untold chaos in his marriage to Camille. Additionally, one has to think that if Autumn was in fact his child and this woman's mother had chosen to pursue child-support for her daughter would she have been better served to take Cosby to court and maybe get Darryl Strawberry, Deion Sanders, Johnny Carson, Steve Garvey or Dennis Rodman type bucks from Cosby just as these wealthy men's former wives have done? Something about this whole affair smells and not just because it is Bill Cosby being extorted for his wealth but because it happens far too frequently to those who can ill afford it, unlike Bill Cosby. It happens all the time to men who for whatever reason get with a woman for the express purpose of fornication and wind up being unsuspecting/unwilling fathers, obligated to make payments into to perpetuity to someone they really never want to see or hear from again in their lifetimes. Sadly this won't change anytime soon despite the fact that someone can use lies and or deception to obtain a child then lay claim to being a good candidate for motherhood. Yep!!! "What a country?"


Name: Nnamdi Nzingha
Email:
Response: Yes. Regardless, if he was her father, what she did was wrong. I believe that if she would have approached Bill in a proper way, he may have taken care of her.


Name: Lealie
Email: Royster2@erols.com
Response: Well, has a paternity test been administered to confirm or deny that Bill Cosby is Autumn's father. If a test has not been taken, and Autumn is in her twenty's, then I say, Bill is the father. True the timing of the entire incident is unfortunate, but, based on news reports and even, Bill, himself, it happened by circumstance to fall either on the same day as his son's death, or one day afterwards. It has already been confirmed that the two incidents had nothing to do with the other. It still saddens me to believe that persons can respond in such negative way, based on unfounded information. If Bill is the father, then he should have provided her with the appropriate support and Autumn should not have taken this entire situation public. If Bill is not the father, then Autumn should be prosecuted and if found guilty, locked away for life.


Name: Frances L.Murphy II
Email: FrankieLou@aol.com
Response: Poor child!! She didn't know when she was ahead. She should be hung from the rafters, especialy if the blood tests prove she is not his child.


Name: K. Leonard
Email: k8wra1@juno.com
Response: Autumn Jackson's actions were not those of a child trying to capture a father's love, it was about money. She may have assumed that he was vulnerable at the time because he was distraught about the murder of his son. Her actions were vicious and calculated. She should be tried on the charges of attempted blackmail and extortion and let the chips fall where they may.


Name: joan warren
Email: JOANBHA@AOL.COM.
Response: I THINK AUTUMN, SHOULD HAVE DISCUSSED THIS MATTER WITH BILL AND HER MOTHER. SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE STRUCK HIM AND HIS FAMILY, WHEN THEIR SON WAS MURDERED. THIS WAS HEARTLESS. SHE DESERVED WHAT THE LORD WILL PUT ON HER. HE KNOWS WHAT SHE CAN BEAR. ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR HER AND HER MOTHER, SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. SHE WAS SO GREEDY FOR MONEY, AND NOT THE LOVE OF A MAN WHOM WOULD GIVE TO THE WORLD, TO ANY ONE, IF HE COULD. MY PRAYERS GO OUT FOR BOTH FAMILIES.


Name: Wayne
Email: wta@nni.com
Response: I will say this Cosby, has have done a lot for her and it is a darn shame the way she came out with this at the time of his son's death. So I think that she should stand trial and if found guilty, then she should pay the price.


Name: Robin S
Email:
Response: Autumn Jackson should be prosecuted for extortion, along with her greedy partners. She knew Mr. Cosby is worth millions and feels she is entitled to get all she can, because of the possibility of him being her father. No one knows for sure if he is or not, and it doesn't make it right to blackmail him. She should have been content with what she has already received. It seems that she was ungrateful for that! What a bad time to blackmail him, around the untimely death of his son. If Mr. Cosby would have given her the money she requested, it would not have satisfied her. Alot is never enough. I hope Mr. Cosby and others in this situation know by now that a night of pleasure, can turn into a life time of pain...no matter how much money you have!


Name: Debbie Johnson
Email:
Response: Mr. Cosby offered this young lady an opportunity for a free college education. So many of us would jump at an opportunity like that. Instead she chose to drop out of school, and try her best to extort money from him illegally. In other words she didn't want to use the opportunity presented and work for what she gained in life, preferred to steal money from this man under threat of ruining this man's reputation. She deserves whatever she gets.


Name: Serious in Chicago
Email:
Response: No, she shouldn't be prosecuted. Quite frankly, I'm not at all happy with the way Bill Cosby is handling this situation. This young lady is being asked to keep quiet about a man who is/may be her father. Not only has she grown up without a father, her potential father has asked her to "shut up" and take a back seat. He thinks that by funneling her money, this will make up for a lifetime of wrong. Mr. Cosby is WRONG as are a lot of black men (rich and poor) who stand by and watch their children go by the wayside for egotistical reasons. I've also lost respect for Camille. What kind of woman would sit by and watch a child be denied what could possibly be one of the most privledged lives in the country, because she does not want to be embarrased. She didn't have to take the young lady into her home - as it is clear that she has a mother - but she should have made sure that she was well taken care of. Not just thrown money as if she didn't exist or didn't mean anything. We all watched as their only son was buried, and we all mourned for them. Why not have the same compassion for this young woman? Bill Cosby is the one who is WRONG. He had the affair, and he was the one who possibly produced a child. She did not ask to come here, and definitely not in this state. He's lucky she only asked for money. Blacks should be outraged at the thought of her being sent to jail. If Bill Cosby allows this young woman to be sent to jail, I will never watch him again nor respect or support him in any way. As far as I'm concerned he and his wife deserve each other. I hope that Autumn is cleared and goes on to live her life to the fullest despite what Bill has done. Many of us have. P.S. If anyone has noticed, he is steering clear of DNA tests.


Name: D FEGGINS
Email: DFEGGINS@FTC.GOV
Response: NO, If he has nothing to hide just take and DNA test and shut everyone up for go! Mother's baby, father's maybe!


Name:
Email: BigBLady@aol.com
Response: She was trying to black mail him and should be prosectuted. She was definitely getting greedy.


Name: Solomon Landers
Email: Numberup@worldnet.att.net
Response: I don't see where Mr. Cosby has any choice if Ms. Jackson is guilty, as charged, of extortion. If, as reported, Mr. Cosby contributed over $100,000 to the young lady's education, she should have been grateful, not greedy. And if she really believed Mr. Cosby was her father, she had a trashy, insensitive way of showing it.