It is bad enough that serial child rapist Jerry Sandusky is under house arrest rather than properly incarcerated. Now I hear that he lives next door to an elementary school, and spends time on his porch watching the children play.
What the hell is wrong with the people in charge of this? Why isn't Sandusky in a jail cell? Sure, he'd be raped and killed in prison, but how can the court justify allowing him to be in such close proximity to a schoolyard?
There are laws in most municipalities that prevent sex offenders (even if they aren't pedophiles) from living within a certain distance of a school. Yes, Sandusky is still "presumed innocent" because he has not been convicted, but this situation infuriates me.
Lunch
17 minutes ago
If this person is a "serial child rapist" as you state in your first sentence, then why hasn't he been convicted in a court of law? I thought US law had the same presumption of its English Common Law progenitor that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty? Interestingly enough there is a third option in Scots Law which is 'not proven', which has the same practical effect as a finding of innocent for the accused in that he/she is not as a result subject to any punishment, but remains permanently 'under a cloud' in some respects; Scots Law has its origin in Salic Law (Roman law).
ReplyDeleteOn the general subject of condemning to punishment people who have not been convicted of any crime, this is no different from what the US has done in Guantanamo and continues still to do. Both are deplorable. There is an analogous case in the UK just at present where a foreign national (apparently an 'Islamic extremist') has not been convicted of any crime in the UK, but has been held in detention for almost 10 years (apparently he was a close associate of Osama bin Laden) as a danger to public order; a court here has recently said that as he has not been convicted or charged with any crime he must be released, although the Government has been permitted to place restrictions upon him because he is undoubtedly a very dangerous person. Because he is not a UK national, the government now wishes to deport him to his home country (Jordan), but the European Court of Human rights (to which the UK is a signatory) has forbidden this because of the risk not only that he could be tortured there, but also because evidence against him there obtained by torture of others could be used against him. I think the reason he is not able to be convicted here is because evidence against him cannot be presented in court because that evidence itself would probably compromise British national security if revealed because of the ways in which the evidence was obtained by illicit means (not including torture of course, which is illegal under UK and international law).
I am very unhappy with the developing notion in what are supposed to be democratic countries that people who have not been charged or convicted of a crime can be locked away effectively for ever. I certainly don't want dangerous people to be allowed to wreak havoc, but if our justice is to mean anything it must be applied honestly and fairly. This applies to your 'serial rapist' as much as to anyone else.
Who knows what some future government in the UK or US decides to lock up people it does not like (such as perhaps you or me) with due process? Sorry to have written this screed, but I feel quite passionately about this, even if I accept that the practical effects of a strict adherence to our justice system may not be palatable in some ways. A just legal system is as vital for people whom we do not like (perhaps more so), than for people whom it is easy to like, such as your unconvicted 'serial rapist'.
It's the same situation we see all the time when a prominent sports figure is accused of a crime. There will always be enablers who can think of a hundred reasons why this person should be given special treatment because he is involved with collegiate or professional sports.
ReplyDeleteIf I had anything to say about it Sandusky would be strung up by his nuts already, but I think we all know he will never serve s day in prison for his crimes. Intercollegiate sports has special place in our justice system and it's called immunity.