![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsProsecutors in the Martha Stewart securities fraud case are now saying that if they get a conviction on securities fraud, Miss Stewart will automatically be eligible for a subsequent conviction for proclaiming her innocence
What the FUCK? I thought innocent until proven guilty was the law of the land. Even if someone is ultimately found guilty of a crime, you don't go on to punish them for insisting that you treat them in accordance with all the respect and rights accorded the innocent before the establishment of guilt.
The prosecutors claim, "Well, this is different. In an era of non-stop news coverage, Miss Stewart's pronouncement of innocence amounts to an attempt to manipulate her stock price further." No, it is not different. Martha Stewart is a citizen of the United States and has every right to proclaim her innocence, in public, as loudly as she wishes, and nobody should have the power to punish her for doing so. She has not yet been found guilty. She is assumed to be innocent, and she can say so. That is her right.
What the FUCK? I thought innocent until proven guilty was the law of the land. Even if someone is ultimately found guilty of a crime, you don't go on to punish them for insisting that you treat them in accordance with all the respect and rights accorded the innocent before the establishment of guilt.
The prosecutors claim, "Well, this is different. In an era of non-stop news coverage, Miss Stewart's pronouncement of innocence amounts to an attempt to manipulate her stock price further." No, it is not different. Martha Stewart is a citizen of the United States and has every right to proclaim her innocence, in public, as loudly as she wishes, and nobody should have the power to punish her for doing so. She has not yet been found guilty. She is assumed to be innocent, and she can say so. That is her right.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Interesting
Date: 2003-06-06 07:45 am (UTC)If true, it's intriguing to me. How many scandals (policial or otherwise) lately could have been avoided by someone just owning up to the fact they screwed up or overreacted?