Guilty When Charged

Chronicles Magazine ^ | Wednesday, December 28, 2005 | Paul Craig Roberts

[airborne]

In America, defendants are no longer innocent until they are proven guilty. They are guilty the minute they are charged, and the system works to process the guilty, not to determine innocence or guilt.

Unfortunately, this is truer than I'd like it to be.

[A. Pole]

Almost all (95 percent to 97 percent) felony indictments are settled by a coerced plea.

Bump!

[cornelis]

Take a minute to say a prayer for the wrongfully convicted.

[PeterPrinciple]

American prisons are full of wrongfully convicted persons. Many were coerced into admitting to crimes they did not commit by prosecutors’ threats to pile on more charges.

There is a new tv show now to prove this...........

[filbert]

In America, defendants are no longer innocent until they are proven guilty. They are guilty the minute they are charged, and the system works to process the guilty, not to determine innocence or guilt.

But, but, but, that's the way it is on CSI and Law and Order! The cops there are never wrong, and even when they are, they're still right! I see it every night on TV! *sigh*

[A. Pole]

Unless you believe Americans are 12 times more criminally inclined than Europeans, why is one of every 80 Americans (not counting children and the elderly) locked away from family, friends, career and life? Part of the answer is the private prison industry, which requires inmates to fuel the profits of investors. Another part of the answer is career-driven prosecutors who want convictions at all costs. Yet another is the failure of judges to rein in prosecutorial abuses. Another part of the answer is the hostility of Americans to defendants and indifference to their innocence or guilt.

Sad.

[yarddog]

I was forced to be sedentary for a couple of months back around 1995 and watched a lot of Court TV.

I really was surprised at just how awful some of the jury verdicts seemed to me.

I frankly would love to go before an American Jury if I were guilty and would be scared to death if innocent.

[A. Pole]

Do you believe that "Americans are 12 times more criminally inclined than Europeans"?

[ColdSteelTalon]

I learned in the cold war that if you interrogate a person long enough and deprive them of sleep feed them at irregular times and and mess up their sleep patterns they will confess to anything.

[A. Pole]

I frankly would love to go before an American Jury if I were guilty and would be scared to death if innocent.

Guilty will tend to chose the tactics which are the most advantageous. The innocent will stick to the truth at their peril.

But sometimes the innocent lie to win. I knew one cynical guy who when faced with the prosecution based on the false witness, instead of trying to prove the truth, he just produced another false counter-witness. And it worked!

[Logophile]

I was willing to give Mr. Roberts the benefit of the doubt until I read the following:

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has brought the breakdown in American moral fiber to the fore. The horrific tortures and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, the public justifications of torture by the president and vice president of the United States, and the CIA kidnappings and torture of detainees in secret prisons put the American “liberators” in the same camp as Saddam Hussein. It is ironic that mistreatment of Iraqis is one of the justifications that Bush uses for overthrowing Saddam.

From what I have seen, the "tortures and abuses" committed by our troops at Abu Ghraib fell far short of "horrific." And to equate them with mass murder committed by Saddam Hussein is beyond belief.

[proxy_user]

No, but we have one solution to every problem, and that's send everyone to jail.

Too many illegal immigrants? Throw their employers in jail.

Disorderly sixth graders? Arrest them.

A business goes broke? Must be fraud, investigate everyone.

There is no stupidy, no accidents, everything is due to evildoers!

[Onelifetogive]

Do you believe that "Americans are 12 times more criminally inclined than Europeans"?

Te implication is that Europe imprisons the "right" amount of people. Maybe Europe is 1/12 as effective at protecting society from criminals.....

[A. Pole]

From what I have seen, the "tortures and abuses" committed by our troops at Abu Ghraib fell far short of "horrific."

Would you recommend Abu Ghraib treatment to the arrested American suspects?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I got my first jury duty letter this past summer. I immediately called a lawyer friend and asked how I might avoid this burden.
"But you're the kind of guy we need on a jury..." my lawyer said. "If you really want to ditch this, just be a half hour late on the day they pick the jury. They'll have everyone they need and you can go home."
Even though I was on the jury list, I didn't have to show up (another jury pool provided enough jurors). I don't know how I'll react if I get another invitation.

[Onelifetogive]

...why is one of every 80 Americans (not counting children and the elderly) locked away from family, friends, career and life...

Do we not lock up criminal children (16-19 year olds) or the elderly (65+)? Or are these groups excluded from the denominator but not the numerator in order to produce a shockingly large number?

[ThanhPhero]

The horrific tortures and abuses

I could read this through to see what evidence he has but this phrase tells me enough. This fellow has a totally warped perception and sense of proportion.

[A. Pole]

Te implication is that Europe imprisons the "right" amount of people. Maybe Europe is 1/12 as effective at protecting society from criminals.....

Read my tagline. There is a critical mass when the prison industry becomes so big that cannot be controlled.

[knuthom]

The horrific tortures and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, the public justifications of torture by the president and vice president of the United States, and the CIA kidnappings and torture of detainees in secret prisons put the American “liberators” in the same camp as Saddam Hussein.

This hyperbole makes me question his credibility.