I am confused, we are told that we live in a free country. However, we are constantly told we cannot do things

Question

I am confused, we are told that we live in a free country. However, we are constantly told we cannot do things that we should be allowed to do. When we are charged with a crime we are told that we are innocent until proven guilty but are not treated as such. When we do finally get a trial to be judged by a jury of our peersthey are instructed that if they have ANY reasonable doubt that they cannot find us guilty. How does someone convict someone and NOT have a doubt? Unless I was there to see the crime myself I would always wonder if I sent someone that was innocent to prison."

Answer 1

I hear that.....totally!

The Judiciary shows nothing but contempt for the people in the community....and then they wonder why the crime rate is so high.

If you have a Judiciary that is constantly breaking the rules...how can they expect the people to follow the rules?

Today's Judiciary is a joke...and they are the real people who need to be brought to justice!

If your Constitutional rights have been violated...sue them in the United States District Court. Don't get discouraged... keep trying and good luck!

Answer 2

So, what are you trying to do? Get out of jury duty?

"How does someone convict someone and NOT have a doubt?"

Well lets see, if a person holds up a bank and does not cover their face, the video tape evidence would be pretty damning.
Normally, they have to convict if the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.

That means even though it is possible that space aliens did cosmetic surgery on a guy to make him look like the accused and that guy with the surgery committed the crime; the accused is going to jail. Unlikely as that sounds, it could be the truth. All the defense would have to do is produce one of the space aliens to perform the cosmetic surgery there in the courtroom.

Answer 3

For reasons that include historical, semantical and psychological, scientists who study attitudes arrange 'freedom' on a scale that scales the spectrum from Liberty to Authority. Plus Authority equals minus Liberty, just as pus grouchiness equals minus friendliness. The reality of any society, is that Liberty has a firm upper bound. To put it another way, some level of authority is necessary if people are going to coexist.

For example, it really does not matter whether drivers keep to the right or keep to the left. What matters is that they all keep the same. Somehow, some way, somebody has to make an authoritative pronunciamento that says we all keep, say, right. There is a large number of such limiting cases, cases in which some level of Liberty must be sacrificed in order for humans to live together in one society.

The 'free-ness' of a society is a relative thing. The USA is not nearly as free a country as it was forty years ago.

The presumption of innocence is a legal fiction that dictates some of the steps that the government has to dance before it tosses a citizen into that deep hole we know as the Criminal Justice System.

Reasonable doubt means just that: a doubt that is reasonable. Not absolute certainty (for there is no such thing this side of Eternity) but a degree of certitude that you feel in your gut makes you morally certain. A certainty that you would seek to achieve in your own decisions about things that are important.

Eyewitness evidence is the weakest form of evidence. My first day of law school, a band of masked intruders broke in to the criminal law class, fired off prop weapons, shouted 'Death to the Fascist Insect That Preys on the Life of the People' and 'abducted' one of the students. (Actually, fewer than half of the actors were wearing masks, but I recalled them all being masked.)

Not one eyewitness got most of the facts right. In fact, most witnesses got the number of intruders wrong, and many got it wrong when asked which side of the room did they enter through. Et c. CSI evidence is so powerful not only because it's impressive but also because it's highly reliable.

Answer 4

To begin with, freedom is not license. You have to obey the laws, and follow the rules. You are free to cheat on a test, but you must be willing to accept the consequences should you be caught.
Now as for crimes; you are assumed innocent, by the jury, not by the arresting officers. Those who arrest you cannot arrest you, not bring you to trial unless they have convincing proof that you have committed the crime for which you have been arrested.
You should sit in on some trials at your local courthouse and see true justice in action. Then you may understand how the justice system works.

Answer 5

When the evidence PILES up and it all points to one person, it cannot be ignored. If there are just a couple of pieces of circumstantial evidence, any reasonable person would absolutely have doubts. Also, surely you've heard of forensics and DNA testing. Some of the things we are fortunate enough to have now do a very good job of removing doubt. When a DNA test done on semen found inside a rape victim reveals that this particular DNA would appear in 1 of 6,000,000,000 people, how much doubt remains?

BTW, as far as the first part of your question or statement, I guess, laws are constantly being written because people as a whole have the inability to govern themselves. So we have to have a bunch of people tell those who are idiots that it's not okay to blow away your next door neighbor because his grass clippings are 1" into your yard.

Answer 6

Well oftentime logic and common sense must be brought in to ensure that other activities remain free. How many murderers, rapists, and paedophiles do you think would await their court date with overwhelming evidence against them if they weren't arrested right then and there? It would be anarchy.

Answer 7

"Free" means freedom from undue oppression. It does not mean free to do anything and everything you want. Your rights must alwasy be balanced against the rights of others.

Answer 8

Everything is free in America.....if you are white in America. Olay!!!!!! A song from "Westside Story", 1962. I can tell that you never traveled outside of the USA. You don't appreciate what we have here until you leave it for a few weeks.

Answer 9

very true, our freedom is that of taxes and finds interest and license.