There is one thing that really, really irks me. The mob mentality.
There is nothing worse, and certainly nothing more frightful, than a group of rednecks who gather together and protest about something that they a) know nothing about, or b) are simply wrong about.
I refer to the recent kerfuffle in Queensland about a convicted paedophile for whom the State Government i desparately trying to find accommodation where he won't be picketed, threatened or lynched.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am by no means condoning what he was convicted of in any way, shape, or form, but the thousand-strong mobs that hav been picketing the front of his house and calling for him to be removed from the community are shooting themselves in the feet.
You see, the guy recently had another charge against him dropped because the presiding judge stated that he would have no chance of a fair trial. As difficult as that may be for the victim or their family/friends to accept, that is the way the justice system works.
However, since moving to the latest property, there have been strong, emotional calls by outraged rednecks to get him out of their community.
The thing they don't understand is, by doing what they're doing, they are jeopardising the chance of him getting a fair trial even more, and he will end up having any charge he is brought up on dismissed on the same basis.
Police officers and Government Ministers have tried to appease these crowds that have begun to gather daily out the front of his house, but they just don't get it.
Sure, I understand they might be concerned for their kids, but the guy is under 24-hour police watch until further notice. That's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there is a police officer by his side.
How can anyone possibly do anything with that sort of attention on them?
The whole episode scares me, and it reeks of the Deep South in the US circa 1960s. Ku Klux Klan, anyone?
2 months ago
7 comments:
It's a tricky situation huh? But what to do? - Dave
agreed, what TO do?
perhaps i would be best to leave him alone?
that way it would not jepodise the judicial process.
How do these people even know who he is? Why does anyone need to know, especially given he's on 24 hour watch. Sure it may feel better on an individual level - "at least my kids will be safe," they all think. But the law is supposed to be blind to these concerns.
The whole legal system is based on the presumption of innocence and rehabilitation. If these conditions fail to hold you've got a legal system that won't work. Then governments in their wisdom decide to publicise the identity or whereabouts of known sex offenders, all of a sudden those conditions fail because if they've paid their debt and been "rehabilitated" they're simply no longer offenders.
Now this guy may be the very devil himself, but he won't go to jail while he is presumed guilty and incapable of being rehabilitated. That is just not the way the system works.
I suppose this is my roundabout way of saying I agree with you Dave. Why are the identities of these people made known and why is that legal?
They're not - but the usual small town gossip prevails and, I think in this case, even some members of the media helped track him down. Which is reprehensible.
I agree with you, Dave, that they're shooting themselves in the foot. Making the decision to leave him alone would be making a decision based on logic. Unfortunately, emotions tend to scream louder in our minds and they drown the logic with messy thoughts so we make decisions based on emotion.
As humans, we should be able to make logical decisions...but we're human. We need people like you to bring logic out in the open to remind of us of what is right, or at least challenge our thoughts, unlike the media representatives in this case who have helped cause this issue.
Thanks Bri. Good to hear from you :)
You really must be pissed. There are typos in this! I didn't know that was possible from you! The Grammar Guy without a perfect entry?? What gives?
Valid points, btw...
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