Justice and the Media

The JonBenet affair shows that people shouldn't be tried in the court of public opinion and in the media, but in a court of law. The American judiciary system is becoming less and less able to protect the accused from the protection that the presumption of innocence should give him. It is sad to say, but the Ramseys were lucky for they had the money that was necessary to defend themselves from not only a prosecutor and a police department that became merciless in their quest to prove their guilt, but also from the media who wanted nothing more than to exploit the salaciousness and dramatic aspects of this story. My guess is that the media will have the usual talk about how, one more time, it prejudged a judicial case and then do the exact same time when the next "great" case comes along.

Comments

[RisingSunofNihon]

The difference between Karr and the Ramseys is that he confessed! Yeah, his story is probably all bunk anyway (it seems that a lot of details are contrary to the evidence), but if average people are "convicting" him, it's his own fault.

Personally, I'm waiting for the DNA test results to come back. Until then, I really don't care what people say about Karr, because he's inviting all this upon himself. If he had asked to speak with a lawyer or had said "no comment," then that would be a different story...

Yes, if/when the case goes to trial, the presumption of innocence must be adhered to, but that's far too much to ask of the general public for some nutjob that's going around confessing to this crime.

[Kiki]

I am waiting to know more about this case. What is disturbing is that some many pundits and members of the media would prefer Karr to be a crazy pervert who made the whole thing up so that they won't have to eat crow and to clear their conscience by admitting that they were wrong. The most disturbing aspect of the sensationalization of justice is that it creates preconceived notions and prejudices are hard to overcome. I don't anything about this case and I have an open mind because unlike so many people, I had never made up my mind about the parents in this case because as an attorney I knew too well how difficult it can for people to find themselves in the middle of the hot criminal story of the moment. My only hope is that at the end of all this mess and frenzy, we get finally an answer to the only important question in this case, “Who murdered JonBenet?” I don't even want to know why or how, I just want to know who killed a little girl on a christmas night almost ten years ago.

[Gaius]

I think you hit it on the head - the media is jumping to say this guy is crazy. Mostly to protect themselves from all the ink they spilled casting suspicions on the Ramsey's. I was talking to a woman who just moved to my town from Colorado and she said that literally everyone thought the Ramsey's had done it.

Frightening.

Thanks for the links, btw. Nice avatar, too.