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That is true, but also a semantic issue. You can hold whatever private belief you like about someone’s guilt or innocence on a matter - I certainly do, but we must be very careful here. A private presumption of guilt is not the same as a criminal conviction, the person is legally innocent until proven guilty and if we act as though a person is guilty then we are enacting overt prejudice. Your assertion may be factually correct but that doesn’t make it morally justifiable. Whilst it might be tempting to throw away jurisprudence because you know in your heart of hearts that Mr X is a wrong-un, you need to balance it with the idea that such prejudice could be aimed at you or members of a marginalised community.

Society needs to be very careful about the presumption of guilt. It leads to a dark place.

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Argumentative Penguin
Argumentative Penguin

Written by Argumentative Penguin

Playwright. Screenwriter. Penguin. Fan of rationalism and polite discourse. Find me causing chaos in the comments. Contact: argumentativepenguin@outlook.com

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