During the period after the Civil War, there were a number of citizen groups who formed for the purpose of spreading fear into the ranks of newly freed slaves .... The KKK would be such a group ....
The KKK would, on occasion, cause harm in the form of maimings, assaults, and even murder ....
Do you deny this ? .... I didn't think so ...
After such assaults and murders took place, the perpetrators were rarely arrested, and when they were arrested and brought to trial, they were tried by a jury of their peers. Those peers would often fail to convict their fellow whites, even though the facts would clearly indicate their culpability .... Many whites were acquitted of capital crimes against blacks.
Do you deny this ? .... I greatly doubt it ....
Now .... I am an individual, and NOT a court of law .... I have a set of values and ethics that value honesty and a healthy respect for the truth, whereever that truth leads us ... When I read and understand the facts of those cases, I develop my own opinion about them, and I base my beliefs upon those facts I believe are true. In most cases; where the facts show that such crimes did in fact occur, and that the perpetrators were in fact responsible (in my opinion), then I reach conclusions that are different than those reached by the courts.
I find that; even though the courts of the era found those whites innocent, I have reached a conclusion that was NOT based on whether a court of law found the defendant to be innocent or guilty, because I cannot rely on the verdicts of those court cases to be truthfully and honestly founded ... I instead believe that most of those perpetrators were, in fact, GUILTY of the charges for which they were charged.
Hence; I do no agree that every opinion an individual might have about the innocence or guilt of a suspect should ONLY be founded on whether a court has found a suspect to be innocent or guilty - I rely instead upon my own judgement, based upon the facts as I know them ...
It is NOT a 'dangerous precedent' to have an individual opinion about the innocence or guilt of someone charged with a crime ... If one can establish the facts of the case, then one can reach conclusions, as an individual, as to whether a defendant is innocent or guilty of the charges they face.
Moreover - I refuse to cede my own personal volition to some body of government that I know commits gross errors of justice ....
I stand apart and beyond those courts, and I have a right to my opinion ....
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