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The issue is that she wanted to be able to drive before a (possibly months away) court date. Or that she wanted a job that needed her record clean within a week
by waisbrot 10y ago
The issue is that she wanted to be able to drive before a (possibly months away) court date. Or that she wanted a job that needed her record clean within a week.
"Presumed innocent" means that at the _end_ of the trial, if the prosecution has not made their case then you are free. But in the time between being charged and the end of your trial you are not innocent. The court will suspend or revoke your license until after trial, you'll have all the charges on your record until after trial, and you can be held in prison until the trial is resolved. In all these cases, you will probably not get any compensation when it turns out that you were innocent, and meanwhile you may have been fired from work and had your property confiscated for non-payment of bills.
- emn13 10y agoThe US justice system is a farce. Because let's be honest, there's precious little to motivate for law enforcement, prosecutors and judges to actually process your case quickly; and indeed there are various incentives to convict possibly innocent parties. Similarly; there are virtually no incentives for law enforcement to do no harm; nor are there any meaningful protections against abuse of power. It is more common for police to do the punishing than courts at this point - which begs the question whether the very existence of a criminal court doesn't do more harm than good at this point; for by having such a facade of impartiality it becomes much easier to excuse lack of oversight, accountability and proportionality on the enforcement side. Sure; it could be even worse. But is it too much to ask for at least some kind of self-corrective measure to be built into the system?