"The government is pushing ahead with these controversial plans which could prove so damaging for rape convictions without any formal consultation.
But the most damaging consequence of the conviction that all politicians lie is that it breeds contempt, a kneejerk refusal to listen.
Another rights advocate who exposed coerced sterilizations, Chen Guangcheng, has been confined since September to his home in rural Shandong Province with his family despite having served more than four years on a conviction for damaging property.
However, commanders still have the authority to overturn sentences -- a remaining danger to justice and potentially as damaging as overturning a conviction.
But, it is encouraging to know that policymakers, researchers and advocates across the political spectrum are now coalescing around true criminal justice reform, with a specific goal of reducing reliance on incarceration, while increasing public safety, promoting community enrichment and reducing the damaging effects of a criminal conviction.
That Gates began adding to the foundation in huge ($5 billion) increments over the past 14 months, as the government prosecution took its damaging course, led to a widespread conviction that his philanthropy was just part of a public relations campaign.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction, saying the prosecutor's damaging remark was acceptable.
It likely means at least temporary incarceration, the posting of bond, and a stigma more damaging than an arrest, but less so than a conviction.
Either way, there is a growing conviction in Downing Street that something ironic, broader and potentially quite damaging is happening to a government previously famous for its virtuosity in "spin".
If true, this could be more damaging to the former Libertines' frontman's image than any number of dodgy hats or convictions for drug possession.
