My world has been rocked! I have always thought the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty is somewhere set in stone in either the U.S. Constitution, one of its amendments or codified in legislation. To my horror I have discovered it is a mere Supreme Court decision from 1895 that backhandedly carves out a defendant’s presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Coffin v. U.S. says:“A charge that there cannot be a conviction unless the proof shows guilt beyond a reasonable doubt does not so entirely embody the statement of presumption of innocence as to justify the court in refusing, when requested, to instruct the jury concerning such presumption, which is a conclusion drawn by the law in favor of the citizen by virtue whereof, when brought to trial upon a criminal charge, he must be acquitted unless he is proven to be guilty.”The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution provide details about legal search and arrest, an individual’s rights in a criminal case and a right to a fair trial. The Fifth Amendment particularly states one cannot “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …” The Supreme Court’s decision in the Coffin case clarifies presumption of innocence as part of that due process. Even though it is only among federal case law, it is nevertheless still there and protecting the citizens of this great nation … or is it?
The recent impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was a mockery of our constitutional system of government and the required due process. The number of shameful shortcuts the Texas House took to bring articles of impeachment to the State Senate was beyond embarrassing! All hearsay and zero evidence. Tucker Carlson’s
interview with Paxton was an eye-opener to the level of corruption even in Texas. There is significant movement from the Texas GOP to censure House Speaker Dade Phelan, especially since the Senate acquitted Paxton on all 16 convoluted and crazy counts.It is not just Ken Paxton’s recent drama played out on the public stage that touches presumption of innocence. There is also the rash of public attacks on internet personalities who dare to speak out against sacred cows, the most recent of which is libertarian-leaning Russell Brand, who purportedly has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube. He has been accused of sexual assault by a number of women who have only just now come forth, alleging the crimes all took place more than a decade ago. Why now?
Brand admits freely he has led a sordid past involving a very promiscuous history but adamantly denies ever acting without consent.
YouTube promptly demonetized him, arguing that “If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.” Do you see the problem with that statement? Brand has not been convicted of anything yet. Of course, his case is a special one because he is a citizen of the United Kingdom, not the U.S. But British Common Law is purportedly where we got the idea of presumption of innocence in the first place.Now, even the U.K. government is getting in on the corruption of due process. Apparently, it is not enough that Brand has been demonetized on YouTube.