To the editor:

How is it that our society has lost its perspective on the rule of law in our country. Our judicial system is based on the very old English Common Law. When a crime is committed, the authorities do their level best to bring the offenders to justice. Justice, it seems, has become the equivalent of morality these days. It is a relative term based on what this or that group decides it is.

When an accused is charged with a crime, it becomes the burden of the state to prove their guilt. It is not up to the accused to prove their innocence. Are innocent people convicted? Yes. Are guilty people allowed to go free? Yes. This is the nature of the judicial system with which we live.

Convictions are not handed down based on mob rule or public opinion. Most criminal trials are decided by a jury that is agreed to by both prosecutor and defender. These are the rights handed down by the founding fathers. It is not a perfect system but it is the best system in the world.

When our leaders step in and work to manipulate this system, although one group might think it fair, we move dangerously close to totalitarianism where those that are in power make the rules and call the shots. What is one group’s liberator today may become their oppressor tomorrow.

“Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” — Sir William Blackstone