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- Apr 20, 2018
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I just heard someone on the news remark that many Republicans, Trump supporters in particular, don't think that what someone (I don't really know who because I wasn't paying that much attention to who was the topic of discussion) did was a crime.
WTH?
Since when did what actions constitute criminally culpable behavior become a matter of what anyone, other than a judge, jurors, prosecutors and the accused, thinks? Our system of law doesn't work that way, nor was it ever meant or designed to.
WTH?
Since when did what actions constitute criminally culpable behavior become a matter of what anyone, other than a judge, jurors, prosecutors and the accused, thinks? Our system of law doesn't work that way, nor was it ever meant or designed to.
- Judges, not presidents, governors or members of legislatures/general public get to say what a given provision in the code means and doesn't mean, when it's applicable and when it's not, etc.
- Jurors, not presidents, governors or members of legislatures/the general public get to say whether an accused person is guilty or not guilty. (In some instances, judges get to do this too.) Also accused persons/organizations get to declare that their behavior is criminal.
- Prosecutors, not presidents, governors or members of legislatures/general public get to say whether a given body of evidence merits charging an individual/organization with one or more crimes and they get to try showing that to be so by presenting the information they've gathered.