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   XPost: alt.politics.bush, alt.law-enforcement   
   From: drp@drproctor.com   
      
   On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 01:26:25 GMT, David Lentz   
    wrote:   
      
   >   
   >   
   >"Peter H. Proctor" wrote:   
   >>   
   >> On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 22:26:28 GMT, David Lentz   
   >>  wrote:   
   >>   
   >> >  The Constitution does not demand perfect process of   
   >> >law only due process of law.   
   >>   
   >>          Interesting point.  Recently,   here in Texas,   compelling   
   >> evidence came up of a person's innocence _after_ they had run thru all   
   >> their statutory appeals.      This limitation came about because   
   >> people were offended by extended appeals..   The person had had "due   
   >> process by any existing legal definition.   
   >>   
   >>            The court of criminal appeals ( all elected for being   
   >> "tough on crime")   was faced with following the law and sending a   
   >> pretty-obviously innocent party to prison because of this "legal   
   >> technicality".       So they ruled that imprisoning an innocent party   
   >> is itself a violation of due process,  tho there was no precident for   
   >> this in case law.   
   >>   
   >> Dr P   
      
   >In general, it is the jury which determines the facts of the   
   >case.   The further removed a jurist is from the jury, the less   
   >able he is to determine the facts of the case.   
      
   This is the legal assumption.    One probelm is that juries are   
   surprisingly often presented with tainted evidence.   Garbage in,   
   garbage out.   
      
   >We should expect and demand honesty from our public officials.   
   >We can not afford to seek perfection.   
   >   
   >A credible criminal justice system must convict and punish   
   >criminals.  We will be better served by a credible criminal   
   >justice system which convicts and punishes criminal along with a   
   >occasional innocent person than a non credible criminal justice   
   >system.   
      
   Naturally,  unless it is you or yours being wrongly convicted...   
      
   > Ten thousand murders a year is powerful evidence that our criminal justice   
   system is broken.   
      
           The firearms prohibitionists wrongly maintain this is mostly   
   due to "guns".     Again,  a combination of the war on drugs plus the   
   dueling honor culture of inner city minority males drives the majority   
   of murders..   
      
   Dr P   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)