"How Much Does Italy Owe Amanda Knox? A Lot."

A Vanity Fair article by Judy Bachrach. Excerpt:

Why charge two students with no history of violence? Absent any credible evidence everyone�judges, jurors, media�turned to a one-word answer: sex. Sex made Amanda do just about everything.

This obsession with the American girl�s sex life followed her into prison. Early on, prison authorities falsely informed her that she was H.I.V.-positive, at which point she plunged into despair. Back in her cell, Knox wrote up a list of her previous lovers�which in short order, was leaked to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and quoted extensively by an Italian author who came up with what would become a habitual media conclusion, one she confided to The Sunday Times: �It�s as if [she] were always hunting men.�

Thus Knox became every Italian mamma�s worst nightmare: the classic blonde, American manipulator of men. Luciferina with an angel�s face, an Italian newspaper called her. Luciferina was dutifully echoed in the courtroom: the girl was obviously involved in some kind of satanic rite....

Women and their hard-fought court cases.

1.  "Italy�s highest court overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend on Friday, throwing out all charges and ending a long-running courtroom drama over the killing of a British student in 2007."

2. "One of Silicon Valley�s most famous venture capital firms prevailed on Friday over a former partner in a closely watched suit claiming gender discrimination.... The plaintiff, Ellen Pao, had accused the firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, of discriminating against her in the course of her employment and eventual dismissal."