Thread by @GrayConnolly

I generally ignore most legal 'trends' (as actually practising lawyers tend to) but note two strong claims in 2021:

A/ 'Believe Victims'.

B/ 'Abolish prisons & a criminal justice that incarcerates innocent people on racist (etc) premises'.

You can have A or B but not both.

Judges, prosecutors, public defenders, etal, all have their own personal views, but that all goes to one side & cases turn on the evidence and whether the evidence supports the case that is being made. Especially in a criminal trial.

We are all (yes, even people you do not like) are presumed innocent (both in and out of a court) until we are found guilty of all elements of a specific crime beyond a reasonable doubt - by either a judge sitting alone or a judge with a jury - based upon *the evidence*.

There is either evidence to support a criminal allegation or there is not. Do not either believe all complainants or believe the system is rigged. Accept/reject evidence admitted under rules & in a trial that you would accept as fair if you were an accused. You may one day be.

While I am very attracted to the Roman Law tradition of the investigating and inquisitorial Magistrate, I am not sure most people in Common Law jurisdictions who complain about police, trials etal would want themselves or a family member put through it. Caveat (in every sense).