01-11-2011, 07:05 PM
This is a special case in which there are many direct witnesses to a horrible crime, the killer was caught and held at the scene, and there is no likely defense except insanity. The news media have a system in which those suspected of crimes and those arrested for crimes become the "alleged" criminals because in most cases, that is exactly what they are at the time. They may be guilty in fact, but they are not yet guilty in law. This system is appropriate for the majority of arrests, allegations, and indictments, because lots of cases have evidentiary problems. A few of the accused will be found not guilty, and a few of those imprisoned will be exonerated after the fact.
There is a different side to this coin, which people forget: At the point that someone is convicted of a crime, we can refer to that person as the murderer, as the robber, or as the embezzler, because the legal system has determined this to be the case. Since the burden of proof in a criminal case is higher than for a civil case, there is no civil remedy for the convicted criminal if he wants to sue for being identified in the press as a criminal. If I want to write that Tom Delay is guilty of a crime, I can do so knowing that I am safe from a libel suit.
The other thing that people forget (sometimes too conveniently, it seems to me) is that the shooter is now in jail, will not be released on bail, and will never again be released from confinement. He may end up in a facility for the criminally insane, or he may end up in an Arizona or federal prison, but he is permanently out of free society. In this sense, he is already being punished (under the rule of protecting the people and assuring his presence at his own trial) even though he may not face trial for months or even years.
There is a different side to this coin, which people forget: At the point that someone is convicted of a crime, we can refer to that person as the murderer, as the robber, or as the embezzler, because the legal system has determined this to be the case. Since the burden of proof in a criminal case is higher than for a civil case, there is no civil remedy for the convicted criminal if he wants to sue for being identified in the press as a criminal. If I want to write that Tom Delay is guilty of a crime, I can do so knowing that I am safe from a libel suit.
The other thing that people forget (sometimes too conveniently, it seems to me) is that the shooter is now in jail, will not be released on bail, and will never again be released from confinement. He may end up in a facility for the criminally insane, or he may end up in an Arizona or federal prison, but he is permanently out of free society. In this sense, he is already being punished (under the rule of protecting the people and assuring his presence at his own trial) even though he may not face trial for months or even years.