Amazingly, Roman Polanski’s attorneys were back in court this week, but not to argue about his longstanding child rape charges. They’re protesting the pedophile’s expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year. If that strikes you as somewhat bizarre, trust me… you’re not alone. But the cretin in exile seems to be deadly serious and he would like a judge to force the Academy to give him back his old seat. (Associated Press)

Roman Polanski asked a judge Friday to restore his membership in the organization that bestows the Academy Awards nearly a year after he was expelled from it for sexual misconduct.

Lawyers for the 85-year-old fugitive director petitioned Los Angeles Superior Court to compel the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to make him a member in good standing again.

In May, the academy made the rare move of expelling Polanski and Bill Cosby, months after ending the membership of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Polanski appealed the decision, and in January the academy rejected his appeal.

Before getting into the details, it’s worth noting how the Associated Press reporter (Andrew Dalton in this case) can’t seem to help himself when it comes to softening the descriptions of Polanski. He writes that the director was expelled from the Academy “for sexual misconduct.” Pardon my saying, but that picture of Al Franken grabbing a sleeping woman’s breasts would probably qualify as “sexual misconduct.” Roman Polanski drugged, raped and sodomized a 13-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to the monstrous crime and then fled the country while awaiting sentencing. Describing that as “misconduct” is journalistic malfeasance.

With that said, does Polanski have a case? It was embarrassing enough that it took the Academy forty years to give him the boot. Are they really so tone deaf that they would let him back in now? One would hope not, and they’ve already shot down Polanski’s appeal of his expulsion. But what does a court of law have to do with it?

The rapist’s attorneys are citing a law that requires corporations to offer “a fair hearing” before removing a member. I’m not sure if the Academy even qualifies as a corporation, but I don’t think the law was intended to cover situations like this.

Of course, the media coverage and Hollywood’s response, being somewhat on the “gentle” side, shouldn’t come as any surprise. They’ve long sought to give Polanski a pass or at least minimize the nature of his monstrous crimes. And there are still Hollywood stars like Sigourney Weaver who say they would work with him again to this day. Small wonder that Polanski probably still believes that he has a welcoming community of fellow Hollywood types and fans waiting for him if he could only have all the charges dropped and come back to California to enjoy the life of the glitterati.