<p>Niquii, I can assure you that 10 innocent people are convicted for every guilty one set free after trial. No system is perfect, but our current criminal justice system is severely biased in favor of conviction of those accused (most of whom are in fact guilty) to the point where a guilty person “going free” and then killing someone else these days is a hypothetical which exists pretty much exclusively on chat boards and TV shows.</p>
<p>So don’t lose any sleep over it, okay? Mom2collegekids described it as an everyday event. It’s not. There are hundreds of documented cases of innocent people found guilty on the Innocence Project website. Can you cite any cases of
Any? In real life, I mean?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, the Constitution is not “pro-gun” any more than it is “pro-pictures of naked people.” It is expressly “pro-militia” and “anti-gun prohibition” - but that’s not the same thing as the framers telling you that you should go out and buy a gun. I agree with the Supreme Court that the Constitution grants an individual right to bear arms. It also is beyond dispute that the reason for doing that was to ensure that militias would not be eliminated. I doubt you are a member of a militia, so you enjoy the freedom but don’t serve the stated purpose of its grant. </p>
<p>The Constitution allows you to make that choice. It doesn’t tell you which choice to make, and it’s an insult to that document and its authors to blame your choice on the freedom it allows you to do things which may be foolish.</p>
<p>That is exactly one of the reasons I am, at a very personal level, so anti-gun. The last person who questioned me about my feelings got this answer, “Had I been in possession of a gun about 22 years ago, my ex husband would be dead.” I’m actually very glad now that he is not. He is one of the ones who mellowed as he aged. </p>
<p>I doubt that Reeves ever envisioned himself in the situation he is in now.</p>
<p>*the pro-gun stance is protected by the Constitution. *</p>
<p>The Constitution is not “pro-gun”…</p>
<p>I’m not saying that. The Constitution protects the right…(even more so than it protects the right to abortion, BTW…but I’m not writing that to open that can of worms…The Constitution is not “pro-abortion” …right?)</p>
<p>Just saw a TV shot of the movie theater seats. The seat backs come up very very high. I can’t imagine you could even see someone’s head let alone their cell pnone from each row.</p>
<p>We have a theater like that where I live. Fancy, with high seat backs and cup holders for the wine and beer they let you bring in. But I’m guessing someone who was LOOKING FOR texters and had a problem with them could glance between the seats for some reflected light from a phone screen.</p>
<p>*Mom2collegekids described it as an everyday event. *</p>
<p>?</p>
<p>No, I didn’t. I was just using the distasteful example as sort of an explanation as to why we don’t take the rights away from the many because of the very few.</p>
<p>I made no attempt to suggest that it is an everyday event. (that would be outrageous!)</p>
<p>I have to respond to the comment about 10 innocent people convicted for every guilty one set free after trial. Nope.</p>
<p>My experience is, I think, pretty straight forward: most felonies are pleaded out, meaning they strike a bargain. By most, I can say the statistics I know, from a large city with a lot of crime, is over 90% plead. Actually closer to 94%. That means roughly 6% go to trial, which believe me is as many trials as the system can handle. The prosecution wins about half of those over time. In a large city, people arrested and charged with felonies plead guilty. And of those acquitted, many are really guilty. </p>
<p>Less crime-filled suburban areas have somewhat different statistics but the simple reality remains: most people plead guilty to some charge and not many go to trial. Why? First, they are almost always guilty when they plead and they figure this is a better choice. Second, sentencing laws mean conviction in trial could put you away for a very long time. Prosecution uses this to get guilty pleas: exchange x for y and you serve this not that. Is that sometimes unfair? Yes, but it mostly works.</p>
<p>Do innocent people get convicted? Yeah of course they do. Are people sometimes framed? Yep. But if you go into a prison, one of my favorite lines to hear is “I’m not saying I didn’t do x but I didn’t do it this time”. I have no idea what to make of that, other than as an admission of sorts, because my experience is criminals lie like rugs (which means all the time). </p>
<p>As for who gets found guilty, my observation is that it’s directly tied to money: better, more expensive defense can often create sufficient doubt to avoid conviction. So poor defendants tend to plead out more often. That sometimes is unfair but it’s not necessarily about guilt or innocence because creating doubt isn’t the same as proving innocence; it’s just avoiding conviction.</p>
<p>I seem to remember the widow saying in one of her interviews that they’d gotten there early to get their food.</p>
<p>Have not been to the FL theater but have been to the one in my city. The whole theater is bistro style (leather chairs, tiered rows)- and all seating is reserved</p>
But I’m guessing someone who was LOOKING FOR texters and had a problem with them could glance between the seats for some reflected light from a phone screen.</p>
</p>