Accused Deserve Their Day In Court

Accused deserve their day in court
Friday, July 13, 2007
http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2007/07/13/20070713-A12-05.html


I was frustrated after reading Lynne Becker's letter to the editor ("Sex case shows we protect wrong people," July 8). While I understand her concern for protecting our children, her conclusion that we should treat the acccused as guilty until proven innocent is downright scary.

One of the qualities that made this nation so great was the concept of innocent until proven guilty. No matter how much society believes someone is at fault, everyone should have his fair day in court. I am tired of hearing people bark about someone being guilty in the court of public opinion.

What are we, a mob society? The majority opinion often is not right. Have we not learned our lesson by now? Is the Duke lacrosse case that far away?

If we are going to treat people as guilty until proven innoncent, as Becker proposes, why not just get rid of the entire democratic system, Constitution and all?

Dictatorships operate under a mob-orientated "guilty first" system; is this the path we really want to go?

I seriously doubt our soldiers in Iraq are giving their lives just so overtly emotional and sometimes uneducated mobs can deem a person guilty, due process be darned. This growing tendency by some Americans to judge before due process is downright unpatriotic.

RAY McFARLAND JR.
Westerville