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Attended a pre-trial hearing today to support a friend who is facing serious charges of sexual assault. I was there for him because his life has been upended; guilt or innocence has nothing to do with it. While we waited in the hallway for the hearing that never happened... 1/
...we talked. His conversation made it clear that he sees himself as separate from all those *guilty* people who are also hanging around the hallway, waiting for their hearings. He was totally unsympathetic to their upended lives. He maintains his innocence and... 2/
...I think he probably *is* innocent. But he seems to have learned NOTHING from his experience. Nothing about how terrible the criminal legal system is, nothing about how wrong it is to see people shackled as they shuffled to their hearings... 3/
...while he was not shackled only because he could afford to put up bail. He is sure that he will come out okay because he is innocent, not because he has money to hire an attorney and to be free. 4/
I HAVE BEEN WRONG all those times I've said, "Some day, that judge/prosecutor/legislator will have a family member go through the system and then they will see what it is like." 5/
I still would not wish this on anyone, no matter how much they need a good lesson but now I see that even the harshest lessons might be wasted on some people. 6/6
