Nobody is arrested because they are guilty, in our system. People are arrested because there is enough evidence to allege that they *may* be guilty. This is an important distinction to make. It protects us all, in that it guarantees that we are assumed innocent until it is proved otherwise in a court of law, but it also means that unless we expect guilty criminals to turn themselves in and peacefully await trial, that people who've not yet been proved guilty get arrested. It's not perfect, but it's what we've got.
It occurs to me that I may be getting needlessly pedantic, and just misunderstood your phrasing. Eeek. Sorry.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 09:09 pm (UTC)Nobody is arrested because they are guilty, in our system. People are arrested because there is enough evidence to allege that they *may* be guilty. This is an important distinction to make. It protects us all, in that it guarantees that we are assumed innocent until it is proved otherwise in a court of law, but it also means that unless we expect guilty criminals to turn themselves in and peacefully await trial, that people who've not yet been proved guilty get arrested. It's not perfect, but it's what we've got.
It occurs to me that I may be getting needlessly pedantic, and just misunderstood your phrasing. Eeek. Sorry.