I used to wonder about the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing. I used to think isn't it more important to put a criminal behind bars. But then I think about the David Bain case. Of course I dont know if he is in fact guilty or not. But what if he isn't? Thirteen years ago his entire family was killed. And at the age of 22 he was charged with the five murders and sentenced to life. Now, all these years later a court has said that the investigation carried out wasn't just and that may mean that he was innocent after all. Imagine that. A 22 year old man spends 13 prime years of his life in prison when he did nothing at all.
I recently saw a news program about a group in the US who is working on proving innocent some people who were wrongly convincted. There were men who had gone to prison in their twenties and finally got out in their fourties. And they get some measly compensation. How can you put a price on twenty years of a person's life? Some of the men talked about how they feel they may never be able to lead a normal life - they have no partner, no children, no career. Where do they even start?
Maybe there is a lot of truth in the 'innocent until proven guilty concept'. Because it sure is worse to put an innocent man in jail than let a guilty man go free. I just cant see it any other way. What if it was you or me? Imagine that. Being in prison for all those years knowing the whole time that you did nothing.
The very thought gives me goosebumps.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment