[Carrie]

It seems like the presumption of innocence is nearly dead. Especially with the influx of media into the courtrooms and families' homes.

The big sniper cases are here in VA Beach and Chesapeake; they moved them here from the Fairfax areas in the hopes to get a fair trial for the sniper pair. Are you kidding? This area was just as afraid that the snipers would come here as the Fairfax community was afraid they'd come back. Television gave us nearly hourly updates on the situation. Trying to find someone who didn't already have a presumption of guilt in this entire *state* would be nearly impossible.

Think of OJ. The whole thing was prime-time candy. By the time the prosecution had their evidence ready and were in court, everyone was already convinced by the media coverage that OJ was guilty. They still are, even though he was found in court not to be.

It's no different with non-criminal cases. If someone accuses you of doing something, it's now up to you to prove your innocence rather than the accuser to prove you're actually doing it. The accusation has already been made and now you've got that label hanging over your head.

How I so fervently wish that the US would adopt the UK's practice of "loser pays". I don't understand why this wasn't done decades ago, and I don't know why there's no one up in front of Congress stomping their foot demanding that this be changed. With a simple change to "loser pays", we would rid ourselves of so many frivilous lawsuits that the court system might actually see a manageable end to the huge backlog of cases that are before it.



Last edited by Carrie at Oct 27 2003, 08:41 AM