Attention Daily Kos

Attention Daily Kos October 27, 2016

We have this little tradition in our country called innocent until proven guilty.  Personally I have no opinion about Justice Thomas one way or another.  Apparently a woman has said he groped her in 1999.  That’s all.  Now it’s time to do what works best, and that’s investigate and, if the evidence suggests, take the issue to trial.  Then we’ll see.

Of course us laypeople outside of the courtroom can convict in our own minds all we want, we don’t have to wait for evidence.  We can continue a long and celebrated tradition of convicting or exonerating based on nothing other than convenience or personal opinion.  But thank goodness actual physical consequences of an accusation must wait until more than a single accusation made without witnesses or evidence other than ‘I say so.’

God help us if that becomes our standard for punishing individuals: a mere accusation by a particular person.  Since we know there are other societies that have taken things down to that level of justice over the years, I’d say we should try learning from the experiences of others rather than assuming this time we can make it work.


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