Riley Fox, Lisa Stebic, and the ongoing erosion of rights by soundbite.
6 November 2007Today, I read an interesting article. Seems the Kevin Fox civil rights case is in jury selection. We all remember him right?
Kevin Fox was a guy who was presumed guilty. He was judged by soundbite. He is an example of what happens when someone is accused, and does not exercise their right to remain silent. He is also an example of what happens when we do not listen to the better angels of our nature.
His daughter, Riley Fox, was abducted and killed. And due to a hotly contested State’s Attorney’s race, the sheriff, and the SA basically decided to fit the person to the facts. What they didnt count on was the eventual DNA exoneration of Kevin Fox. They didnt care, they just sat him down in a room for 14 hours, and broke him. He confessed under the brutal interrogation. Trouble is, he didnt do it.
So, lately…I have been seeing alot of stories where more people are basically saying someone is guilty of something, just because they are keeping their mouth shut. Lisa Stebic, and the Stacy Peterson case.
We have the sisters of Lisa Stebic complaining that Craig Stebic cut off ties to the family. That he wont let authorities question his children. He has that right. He has the right to keep his mouth shut. And, as a father, he has a right to look out for the well being of his kids. What’s that you say? If he has nothing to hide, why is he so worried?
I mean, its not like kids would EVER made false or pressured statements to the police. That’s NEVER happened before.
We have the family and friends of Stacy Peterson mouthing off about her husband not joining the search. Well, considering these people think he’s already guilty, and the fact they are making enough statements to poison a jury pool, why should he?
Now, I don’t know if Craig Stebic did away with his wife. I don’t know if the cop husband of Stacy Peterson made her permanently disappear. The point here is this: I won’t know until a jury says so. The right to remain silent is a constitutional right. But, more importantly, the right to remain silent is NOT to be construed as automatic guilt.
All too often these days, in the rush for a sound bite…we do the rush to judgement. Kevin Fox is an example of what happens when you go too far. Craig Stebic is an example of someone exercising his constitutional right. Nobody, family or press/media…seems to care about his rights, or the fact he has the freedom to express them.
That’s not to say, the family/friends do not have a right to speak, but the freedom of speech…comes with a responsibility. It’s never been absolute. They need to be responsible with their words. They need to respect the idea and the spirit behind “innocent until proven guilty”.
Unless we all learn, and temper our judgmental attitudes, there will be many more cases like Kevin Fox, Rolando Cruz, etc.
Current Mood:
Alarmed
