NOT GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN
My comment to BillO'Reilly.com on his column "No Such Thing as Not Guilty" of May 13, 2019.
Mr. O'Reilly,
Your latest column was spot on. Those found Not Guilty or who have the charges dropped are considered Innocent under the law.
But your verbal remarks fell back on a misunderstanding that you, and frankly most in the media and public, have and repeat often.
The American legal system is actually, as my old Encyclopedia puts it, "Not Guilty until Proven." An Innocent person cannot be forced to pay bail, nor be held without bail. The assumption is that the government has enough evidence to convict, but still has the burden of proof. Most legal systems worldwide are "Guilty until proven Innocent", putting the onus on the person charged.
The Presumption of Innocence applies to preliminary hearings and trials, where the judge and jury are to consider the evidence in the light of an innocent individual.
Watching the old Perry Mason series illustrates the ideal model; if Mason didn't consider his client truly innocent, he'd never come to the proper conclusion as to the murderer. Of course, reality seldom mimics such shows, but cases where people have been wrongly convicted almost always reveal a greater presumption on Guilt than Innocence.
While those found Not Guilty or who have charges dropped are Innocent under the law, they are not necessarily Innocent in the eyes of the public (O. J. Simpson and Jussie Smollett, for example).
Sorry for my lack of pith, but I couldn't shorten it.
My comment to BillO'Reilly.com on his column "No Such Thing as Not Guilty" of May 13, 2019.
Mr. O'Reilly,
Your latest column was spot on. Those found Not Guilty or who have the charges dropped are considered Innocent under the law.
But your verbal remarks fell back on a misunderstanding that you, and frankly most in the media and public, have and repeat often.
The American legal system is actually, as my old Encyclopedia puts it, "Not Guilty until Proven." An Innocent person cannot be forced to pay bail, nor be held without bail. The assumption is that the government has enough evidence to convict, but still has the burden of proof. Most legal systems worldwide are "Guilty until proven Innocent", putting the onus on the person charged.
The Presumption of Innocence applies to preliminary hearings and trials, where the judge and jury are to consider the evidence in the light of an innocent individual.
Watching the old Perry Mason series illustrates the ideal model; if Mason didn't consider his client truly innocent, he'd never come to the proper conclusion as to the murderer. Of course, reality seldom mimics such shows, but cases where people have been wrongly convicted almost always reveal a greater presumption on Guilt than Innocence.
While those found Not Guilty or who have charges dropped are Innocent under the law, they are not necessarily Innocent in the eyes of the public (O. J. Simpson and Jussie Smollett, for example).
Sorry for my lack of pith, but I couldn't shorten it.