Prejudged

While watching all that has gone on with the Duke Lacrosse Rape case, and the trial and subsequent disbarment of the prosecutor, has gotten me thinking. There is an overwhelming tendency for people, and I wouldn't say it's unique to this country, to rush to judgement whenever there is a story about a crime, or some such activity. Take the Duke Lacrosse players as a prime example. None of us knew these young men, or the woman who was accusing them, and yet a great many people condemned them very publicly. In the case of the Black Panthers it was just blatant racism, but what is the excuse of more rational people? This is not a case of the trial being botched and people who may still have been guilty getting off scott free, or even of there simply not being enough evidence to go to trial, but most people still being left with the impression that they did it. This is a case of all the evidence pointing to these young men being completely innocent. Right now there is a woman missing in Ohio, and a lot of people are already convinced that her boyfriend, the father of her unborn child, must have something to do with it. And I'm not saying he didn't do it, but how can we rush to judgement and say that he is involved when there is still a lot of investigating left for the police to do? The fact is that we don't know. From what the news media is saying, it is clear that this man isn't exactly someone you would want to emulate, I mean, he's married and yet he has children with two other women, one of them being the one that is missing, but that doesn't make him guilty. However, listening to the news commentators, it sounds like he's on the verge of being convicted. I have to admit, they do take the time to say that he is not being considered a suspect by the police, and that we don't know anything for sure yet, which is of course what I'm saying, but you can clearly hear it in their voices that they don't really believe it. Most of them have already decided that he is definitely the one who did it, and maybe he did, but only time will tell. My point is that we need to be careful about jumping to conclusions, and not form solid opinions until we have enough information. And never let the media tell you what to think, that is never a good idea.