To The Reader’s Forum:

Without the acceptance of truth and justice, we will have a dictatorship not a democracy.

We are facing a lot of vitriol condemning the fair and just decision of 12 jurors in Trump’s hush money trial. These jurors took a solemn oath to listen to the facts, disregard their feelings, weigh the merits of the case, then determine former President Trump’s innocence or guilt. If we can’t accept this, we are saying that we no longer want jurors to determine the innocence or guilt of any case that comes before a court. Instead, Trump’s supporters apparently want jurors to have their bias favoring Trump, thus breaking their oath to be unbiased and follow the law.

Badmouthing the justice system is another way of saying we don’t trust what made America great, our legal system. If we can’t trust our legal system, why have one? Do we want to let those who pull the strings of power in our government determine who is guilty or innocent? If we can’t trust jurors to do their job, do we really want to have prosecutors prosecute under a system that says you are guilty first and you must prove your innocence before a judge without a jury?

Denigrating our country’s legal system is evil. People are using phone calls, emails and letters to threaten the lives of judges, prosecutors, jury members, and their family members because they don’t like how the justice system is pointing out the criminality of their hero. The justice system uses jurors to determine innocence or guilt. The justice system is not at fault. The jurors make the final decision. That is the founding principle of our justice system. Dictators don’t want jurors, democracies do!

Choose now what you want. Do you want a democracy with a jury system of justice, or do you want a dictatorship that decides the innocence or guilt of its citizens without due process?

I was always taught that democracies make mistakes, but their mistakes can be overcome by being humble enough to correct the bad laws they created. Whereas dictators who oversee their governments are loathed to admit mistakes. They double down on their errors to maintain power. Because power is more important than justice.

As a nation we have collectively agreed that the law is above all people, for that is what governs us. Our jury system is the people’s power to check the government’s power to incarcerate innocent people. Let us never forget that! Justice is not about determining punishment, it is about fairly determining innocence or guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Edward Vos

Jamestown