I was quite disturbed when a respected religious clergy said that “Jewish Law” meant a presumption of guilty. I apologize in advance if there was some tid bits that I missed in this meaning but as soon as I heard this I was flabbergasted. Maybe in the times of Talmud there was such great judges that this could have occurred but in today’s times that appears to be out of place. For I believe in my bones that a person must be presumed to be innocent before an judgement is passed. It is better to error in the course of innocents because we must believe that G-D seeks the final judgment not us. I even quote the bible (loosely) to stand up for my convictions in which a person accused of murder is given a sanctuary city where they can stay to protect themselves against the redeemer of their blood. Here are some of the problems (below) that could occur if someone was presumed guilty.
(1) NO TESTIMONY– Why would you need to allow a person to present their case to those who have accused if him/her if you’ve already decided the verdict?
(2)EXTREME PUNISHMENT– Those assumed to be guilty would receive an undue punishment that didn’t fit the crime because judges would sit in a holy then thou position.
(3) NO EXCUSE– There would be no way to present a different picture of what occurred and truly be listened to, if guilty was already decided.
(4) INNOCENT WOULD BE CONDEMNED– No matter how fair your justices would be some innocent people would slip through those cracks and their life’s would be destroyed.