This gets closer to a rant than most so far.
Be careful when commenting so the thread does not (quite reasonably) die an
early death at admins hands.

> >In the situation described I don't think it was unreasonable for the
> >policeman to jump to the wrong conclusion. The radar buzzed, and he saw
> >a sports car driving by a young man and an SUV. If the SUV had seen
> >the police and slowed down so that they were both going close to the
> >legal speed the policeman had to guess. Which way would you have guessed?

This is what's at the heart of what's wrong with the attitude to "justice"
in the US amd many places elsewhere in the "free world". The values and
rights which were held dear as a matter of principle are being eroded by
expediency. No disrespect meant, but the fact that a respectable member of
the community is here defending the inexcuseable is a good illustration of
this. We get used to the slow changes which erode the basic principles on
which the system is built. Some of this is done from greed (revenue etc),
some from fear (911 etc). The "cooked frog" principle applies. Heatthe water
slowly and you never notice.

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. "

This may sound strange coming from me, who was seen apparently defending
speed restrictions etc. What I support is the observation of arrangements
that we have mutually agreed on - until such time as we agree to change
them. I can live with people mutually agreeing on new arrangements, even if
I don't support what they agree on :-). It's the change by force, stealth
and drift that is dangerous.

> However, when accusing someone of a crime, even a misdemeanor, we should
not be relying on a guess.
> Innocent until proven guilty is a very important point.

Absolutely. Fundamental and foundational and, apparently, completely lacking
in this case.

> The theory is that while this may let some guilty go free, they will
eventually repeat their crime (or some other thing) and be caught.

Regardless of WHY the principle was established, and the above is only part
of the reason, the principle is key.



        RM

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