American Protections of the accused (Quick Thoughts)

A series being run by the National Geographic Channel is called "Locked up abroad". Perhaps you have seen an episode or two, and if you have not I would encourage you too. It is not necessarily the often harsh conditions seen in foreign penal systems, even by other modern western countries, but it more the stark differences between the protections we afford to the accused compared to these stories.

Whether the story is taking place in Peru, Japan, Spain or some other nation, I often find myself while watching these hour long episodes focusing on what we take for granted here in the United States, and experiences of others who are not protected like we are here. Many times the individuals the subject of the show are actually guilty of some crime, but some happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is often times too easy to condemn people we see on TV accused of heinous crimes, with what we are shown by the media. But even in these instances these people the public condemns have the same protections as any other person in our criminal system, regardless if they are guilty with massive evidence against them or the wrongfully accused.

 

When I watch this series, you can see first hand experiences of when protections like ours do not exist. The right to know the accusations against you. The right to know what evidence is going to be presented against you. The right to remain silent and not be compelled to incriminate yourself. The right to a speedy trial, to face your accusers and have a jury of you peers determine if you are guilty.

These protections we take for granted, and most of us are taught beginning in Elementary school are not solely unique to the United States, but they are most certainly not universal in many countries. It is truly remarkable listening and watching what happens when one is just accused of a crime in many nations, and how they are immediately placed in the penal system with little if any ability of redress. You can see people compelled to fill out statements of the situation to be presented to a judge, but the accused may never actually see a court room, and may never know what was actually used to convict them including their own words. You can see what truly cruel and unusual punishment is, where being placed in a 8' x 4' cell alone would be a luxury. At times you may see what happens when a person is wrongfully accused, but must wait months perhaps years for a trial while waiting in prison and having no knowledge of what is going on.

At times many in American society question why we have such protection for people who are "certainly" guilty of their crime. But if you watch this show, a pay attention to the comparisons between the American system and what you are seeing, perhaps you will have a change of heart to WHY we provide these protections to prevent the innocent from going through just this.

We Americans learned these lessons through acts similar to these in Colonial and Old English times. Our Fore Fathers and their ancestors learned how valuable and essential it is to protect people from these kind of practices, not necessarily to protect the guilty in every case but to protect the innocent from these types of actions.

I would encourage all to watch a couple of these episodes, and see just how important it is to have these protection always in place.

Nation Geographic Channel, Wednesdays 10:00pm EDT/PDT (Local Channel listing on Right side bar)

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad/all/Overview