This is a cogent letter regarding the recent fiasco of the conviction of Fr. Thomas Graham based on flimsy, if not non-existent, 'evidence'. I fear, though, that the conclusion of establishing a professional jury system may not be in the best interests of the people.
I am including the letter here since the Post purges many items after a period of time:
No surprise in jury decisionLink.
Oakville-Mehlville Journal
11/30/2005
Are Roman Catholic priests really assumed to be guilty until proven innocent? When it comes to the charge of child molestation, it seems that jurists think just that. But should this come as a surprise to us?
Kevin Madden (Journal Nov. 16, 2005, "Is a priest guilty until proven innocent?") reports that "Observers of the four-day trial (of Father Thomas J. Graham on the charge of sodomizing a minor)…walked away shaking their heads in disbelief that the 30-year-old case had been brought to trial," and that a jury had actually convicted the priest based on the testimony of a dubious accuser. Well, welcome to the wild and whacky world of criminal justice in America!
Juries found O.J. Simpson innocent in spite of credible facts to the contrary; Scott Peterson guilty based on innuendo and conjecture; the rampaging thugs who tried to kill Reginald Denny innocent despite video evidence of the attempted murder; and the state of Illinois had to suspend the execution of sentence in death penalty cases because DNA evidence reviews were showing--without a doubt--that many of the people convicted by jury were in fact innocent of the crime for which they had been tried.
I'm not familiar with Father Graham or the case against him, so I won't comment on it specifically. However, in light of the multitude of revelations of sexual misconduct by priests of the Catholic church, the conviction of Father Graham comes as no surprise. Equally unremarkable is Mr. Madden's revelation of jury idiocy in the case; only one of many throughout America. America's jury system is broken. It's in dire need of replacement, not repair.
America's judicial system was founded on the belief that it is better to have nine of the guilty go free than to convict one innocent person. Yet we are a country with many innocent people incarcerated. While we say we hold truth and justice in high regard, we often do not bring that value to the courtroom.
The attainment and maintenance of a responsible jury system is tantamount to a society that respects law and order. The complexities of the contemporary criminal justice system dictate the implementation of a professional jurist system. Today's jurors need to be highly educated and possess a comprehensive understanding of the criminal justice system. We shouldn't accept less, for the next defendant may be one of us.
Michael K. Broughton
Green Park
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