On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 06:18:50 -0600, "Wolfgang"
wrote:

(snipped)

For example,
in a society that prides itself on the legal fiction of a presumption of
innocence, one would like to believe that public opinion would be held in
abeyance at least long enough for the initial garbled news reports to get
sorted out. In fact, most of us have already got a pretty good idea of how
Vang's eventual trial will.....and SHOULD.....work out. Is this fair?

Yep. As long as we're not going to be on the jury. The legal fiction
is for the courts. It's a good thing, but doesn't work socially.

Now if we _act_ on our ideas and go try to lynch the alleged killer,
we're under the legal fiction ourselves and find out that jail isn't
so fictional.


Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
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