Trial By Jury

Trial by jury. Chain of evidence. Due process of law. These practices were not established to pamper criminals. Their purpose is to protect the innocent.

The monarchs of Europe once had the power to imprison, tax, torture, and execute their subjects at will. How can an individual defend himself from the wrath of an vengeful state? How can the falsely accused demonstrate that blame has been misplaced?

The mob mentality is even more dangerous. Lynching, stoning, flogging, dragging, burning at the stake. History is full of tales of hideous injustice at the hands of angry mobs.

The criminal justice system makes grievous and well publicized errors from time to time. Innocent people are jailed by mistake, and killers and other criminals escape conviction through trickery of prosecutorial negligence. But those are exceptions. Most of the time, the legal system delivers its intended result: justice. Those responsible for harming others are punished, and those who have been falsely accused are exonerated.

Sometimes, when we feel emotional about a topic, it's easy to lose sight of how important these fundamental rights really are. I'm certain that it's difficult for victims and the families of victims to endure the tedious pace of justice. I sympathize. But we can't apply fundamental principles selectively.

I have heard people defend the torture of prisoners in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They're terrorists," they claim. "Why should we care how they are treated?" It's a legitimate question.

But aside from concerns about the accuracy of information derived by torture, how do we know that the man that we waterboarded a hundred times was indeed a terrorist? Did we catch him in the act of trying to blow someone up? That might be compelling enough. Or did he just happen to be in a town where someone who looks like him and has a similar name might be a terrorist?

Again we are presented with the classic problem of the falsely accused prisoner. Before we hang him, should we not determine beyond a reasonable doubt that he was indeed the person who committed the crime? And not some unlucky guy who happens to live in the same neighborhood?

How would you feel if you were the accused? Or if it were someone in your family? Held without charges. Without a chance to clear your name. Subject to imprisonment and torture for months and years? Civilization has worked diligently to prevent that from happening in recent centuries. And yet, notice how eagerly some people want to turn back the clock on progress.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South 

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