No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 06:42 PM CDT

what the heck is going on with this country?

since when has accusation become equivalent to conviction?

"The famed statue of Joe Paterno was taken down from outside the Penn State football stadium Sunday, eliminating a key piece of the iconography surrounding the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant.

(bold type is my addition for emphasis)

full article:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/22/12886243-statue-of-famed-penn-state-coach-paterno-taken-down?lite

Re:No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 06:45 PM CDT

that is a high profile case, but i've seen many local news stories where people immediately lose their jobs due to an accusation. years later there is a trial, and incidentally we never hear about that, nor the damage to the person if they were found innocent of the charges. double-u tee eff?

Re:No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 08:21 PM CDT

Quote by: SmokeyVW people immediately lose their jobs due to an accusation.

I don't believe workers in the US have much of any sort of right. You can be fired even without being accused of anything. So if you're being accused and therefore an image problem for your company, yes you can be fired.

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/05/the_powerless_american_worker/

Aren't you glad that unions are on their way out?

Victor.

PS yes, this has nothing to do with Joe Paterno.

Re:No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 09:27 PM CDT

It was taken down by his employer, not the government, and they can do whatever they want.

Re:No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 10:16 PM CDT

I live in a state where workers have basically no rights and every year our legislature passes law after law tilting the playing field even more to the favor of employers. This year severe restrictions were placed on workman's comp, anti-union strong arming has been ignored by authorities. A couple of years ago state courts threw out a lawsuit brought by someone who was fired because they had an Obama bumper sticker on their car.

I have friends and family members who are gay who have to actually deny it because we are one of the states in this country where it is legal to fire someone because they are gay. Someone close to me has just lost their job because of one little slip-up posted on Facebook about a same-sex relationship. I've had a past job threatened because of my religion. I'm not politically active at all now because if I was, I would lose my job.

I can be fired tomorrow just because. And I have no real way to redress the wrongs done.

I still hold out hope that at some point the pendulum will swing back and the balance between employee and employer will be restored. Maybe the Occupy movement or something similar will actually, eventually, make some changes that will be beneficial to us all.

I live, always, in optimism.

But, sorry, I don't feel sorry for Joe Paterno.

And as for his statue being taken down, call me when they start taking down all the statues they've put up of the school's academic leaders, the professors, the members of Phi Beta Kappa and Rhodes Scholars, then we'll talk.

Re:No Due Process
Sunday, July 22 2012 @ 10:41 PM CDT

Accusation became equivalent to conviction long ago when the media sought higher ratings and greater advertising revenues through more sensational reporting.

The accusation is on page one in 72 pt. Bold and the eventual retraction may appear nowhere. And it is specifically targeted at popular hot button issues or people.

Week before last the NY Post and many other papers ran first page headline stories linking Occupy Wall Street to a 2004 murder case citing DNA evidence taken from a chain used to lock open a subway gate last year with a sample from the deceased's CD player. It was big news here and was used to "expose" the criminal element involved in OWS. Three days later it was found that the DNA belonged to a lab technician who had mishandled both pieces of evidence (or the entire story was a fabrication) with the retraction buried deep later in the week. NYPD chief Kelly claimed to have no knowledge of the mix up and release of information - though the initial story was supplied by the NYPD.

Point being that accusation and prejudicial speculation is now a common political tool - and a media strategy to manufacture so called news. Six major corporations supply 85 percent of the news consumed in the US and they have a powerful say in how we view each other and the world around us.

EDIT: On January 28th I was arrested and falsely accused of Obstructing Governmental Administration while videotaping a police action. The charges written against me are a complete fabrication - disproved by four other video tapes of the entire event.

I have been before the judge twice now and the state has not been prepared and so I now have a hearing set for October 24th. All this time I sit with a police record and open arrest. The initial consequence was 30 hours in jail while I was being processed - including an unlawful iris scan. I lost work as a result of the two court appearances - and could do so again in October - at which point it is highly likely that my case will be continued to a later date again. This is "due process" in NYC. In the end I will likely win my case and sue the city for wrongful arrest and undue hardship. A friend of mine who is a school teacher is in a similar position and was fired by the Board of Education on the basis of an open case that has no merit.

Re:No Due Process
Monday, July 23 2012 @ 01:32 AM CDT

Here's the full text of the Freeh Report, 267 pages including 430 interviews, 3.5 million documents reviewed, phone and email hot lines and recommendations about what to be done, all ordered by the Pennsylvania State University's Board of Trustees as an independent, full and complete investigation.

That's a whole hell of a lot more "due process" than most people ever get.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-freeh-report-sandusky-penn-state-20120712-pdf,0,3268802.htmlpage

Re:No Due Process
Monday, July 23 2012 @ 11:39 AM CDT

They should move the statue to the library to remind
everyone to keep quiet