On 6/13/2016 2:08 AM, Ben Tasker wrote:
That's true. Those are colloquialisms, adages - not laws of physics. The mentality behind those sayings you mentioned are exactly why many see a mug shot on TV & immediately conclude they're guilty w/ no evidence or hearing a word from the accused. Most developed countries have a legal system to determine guilt / innocence. Definitely imperfect, but most scholars would say far superior to trial by media or the internet - guilty until proven innocent. Yet thousands of times, people are arrested, charged - their face & accusations plastered everywhere, even convicted - later found they weren't even in the town / state when crime occurred, or hard evidence proves others committed the crime. In spite of ALL those documented cases, a large % of population still immediately assumes people are guilty when arrested, or just publicly accused. We never seem to learn from mistakes. Once we hear / see something, it sticks. USA Today poll in 2003 showed, " *Nearly seven in 10 Americans believe it is likely that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks*." USATODAY.com - Poll: 70% believe Saddam, 9-11 link <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm> A *2014* survey by Fairleigh Dickinson Universityâs research center, PublicMind, showed, "of the 964 adults who were sampled in the national phone survey, 42 percent said that it was "definitely" or "probably" true that American forces found an active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq." http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2015/false/ Weapuns of mass de-strucshun; nuc-u-lear bombs, huh?And how (many, not all) people tend to believe the worst about most accused persons, regardless of the lack of or thinness of evidence, much less waiting for any legal process? An interesting but not necessarily admirable human trait. If the accused is a different race than ourselves, it's often worse. Some people see an accused's face on TV (no evidence yet) & say, "Oh yeah, you can tell s/he's guilty, just by looking." Wow! Really? I hope they're not on my jury of "peers" if I'm ever accused.As well as the oft-quoted "there's no smoke without fire", or "there must be something to it, or the case wouldn't have reached court"
When a prurient or gruesome story breaks, media sensationalizes the undocumented, unproven accusations. If later found untrue, it's barely mentioned. Almost never discussed how their reputation was ruined, lost their job / family, used life savings on legal fees, because it doesn't appeal to the "general public's" baser interests. If the general public WAS interested in it, media would run it.
There are scores of documented cases of persons or groups making extremely serious, false, public claims or filing frivolous lawsuits against individuals or corporations - later proven undeniably false. The many examples from The Innocence Project & Wikipedia - wrongly convicted persons - barely scratch the surface. People that tear themselves away from The Bachelor or Duck Dynasty & have read psychiatrists & experts discuss this in detail - understand the trauma, immense burden & often financial ruin that the falsely accused or convicted & their families endure.
I personally knew 2 teachers (separate incidents) accused by *multiple* students of sexual misconduct (so it had to be true, right?). On nothing but uninvestigated claims, they were arrested, booked, faces & story on TV / papers, one fired. In both cases - investigators and / or teachers' lawyers THEN found it was all fabricated & students fully admitted they made it all up. Before ever going to trial. "Sorry." One was for revenge for "low grades given." AFAIK, nothing happened to the students - old enough to know what they were doing. One teacher said it cost much of their life savings hiring attorneys, because they couldn't risk poor defense by public defenders. There's no way they could mentally stand teaching again, even if they paid them 4 times their salary.
I've been told (not researched it), in some countries if you file a (civil?) lawsuit against someone & lose, you may be responsible for their reasonable legal fees? Perhaps damages, too? You can't just make any claims you want w/ impunity. Throw it against the wall & see what sticks (as in the U.S. & some countries).
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