Even among otherweise non-reactionary people, I have found the following outlook: "if you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to worry about." To which there are a number of response, all of which require them to use their imaginations becuase, on the whole, most people have no direct involvment with law enforcement and the operation of the judicial system. I worked at a firm which did more criminal pro bono work than any other shop, so there were tons of cases being worked on. As a result, there were people, otherwise onservative, who had a very healthy distrust for the police and States Attorneys. Their epiphanies came only after they saw how things really worked.
Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote: How many cases are there really of serious criminals being released on technicalities? And, analagously, how many "ticking bomb" cases are there of the sort used to justify torture? Both sounds like instances of pseudo-plausible but extreme examples used to justify the erosion of normal rights.
Doug
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