February 6, 2,005
Trial By The Media


Below is a message we sent to NBC this morning.  We could not believe what we saw watching the "Today" show!  We ask everyone else to write NBC and demand that their commentators stop convicting Michael Jackson before he has had his day in court.  There is no way Michael could get a fair trial when the commentators on NBC are making the statements that this woman made.  It would be an impossibility. Either media has to stop convicting Jackson before the trial, or Jackson needs to be released and this farse ended.  We thought we lived in a better age, in a better time, but we're still in the lynch mentality, and it must be stopped.

Greetings!

I am absolutely appalled by your segment this morning on "Today" with Lisa Bloom. Apparently she has already tried and convicted Michael Jackson. Her comments were totally inappropriate and very bad journalism! If the only evidence this prosecuting attorney has against Michael Jackson is there were some adult books in his bedroom I cannot even see why this case is even being prosecuted. As a minister for 30 plus years I do not know how many embarrassed parents have come to me because their children have come across things they left laying around in their bedroom and they do not know how to explain them to them. This is not even a crime! Being in possession of these materials is not a crime. Leaving them where children can find them is not a crime. Yet this ignorant, prejudice woman, and her prejudice shows, acts as if this is absolute proof that someone is a child molester! This is insane, this is disgusting! What right has this woman got to convict Michael Jackson?
As an individual who over the years has been falsely accused of several things by sick and disturbed people, I can understand the agony that Mr. Jackson is going through. Your commentators have no right to convict him before the jury, and this should stop! This woman should be sanctioned for the comments that she made and the network should apologize for them! This is the only thing that would be fair.

Yours Most Regretably,

Speaker Gerald Polley

24 E. Lynmar Dr.
Fargo, ND 58102-1188
(701) 235-1152

(Voices is no longer published at this address.)

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Media Coverage On The Old Worlds

The above articles bring up the question "What was the media allowed to do on The Old Worlds concerning someone coming up for trial?  Were they allowed to put out as much information as the press in The United States is allowed to put out?"
Well, it depends very much on the society.  On Haven the moment someone was arrested the press took it for granted they were guilty and would be executed.  The chances of someone being acquitted of a capital crime was next to zero.  If you were arrested there was little doubt you would be tried, found guilty, and executed.  That was Haven justice. 
On Hades things were very much different!  The press could report that someone had been arrested, they could tell the trial was going on, they could even tell what evidence was being given.  But they could not mention the accused's name until after the trial ended and they were convicted.  If they were not convicted they could not mention their name at all, quite different from Earth!
Among The Peepians things were much the same as in The United States, until they became part of The Republic, then They followed Hashon Law.

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