An opinion article by Stefano L. Molea was published this month in the Times of San Diego. The article, entitled “
We Should Temper Our Immediate Reaction to News of Alleged Crimes,” provides a strong argument for withholding judgment in criminal justice cases until we hear all the facts. After all, the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, right?
At issue was a report of the alleged attempted kidnapping of a child from a car parked at a Costco store in North County San Diego. The alleged kidnapper was arrested, and then released on bail. In response to the fact that the man had been bailed out, there was an immediate social media frenzy, with reactions running from panic, to outrage, to concern over the safety of the community. As it turned out, the incident appears not to have been a serious threat, but rather a mistake.
Stefano’s conclusion: Information in the media is often incomplete, and sometimes way off the mark. It’s always best to pause before making up your mind about criminal matters reported in the press, and question how the information was gathered, and the timing of its release. Until the case makes its way through our criminal justice system, which will likely take longer than usual during these days of Covid, we may not know the truth for a while. Just because someone was arrested for, and/or accused of a crime, does not mean they are guilty. In fact, they could even be 100% factually innocent of the offense(s).
To hear Stefano speak about the issue, click
here or on the photo above.
