Donald Trump Is Confused About Due Process

[EasyAce]

"Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation."
By Robby Soave
http://reason.com/blog/2018/02/12/donald-trump-makes-due-process-sound-lik/print

President Donald Trump is not happy about losing Rob Porter, the White aide who quit after two ex-wives alleged that he physically abused them. On Saturday, Trump tweeted a lament:

Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018

It's not clear that Donald Trump knows what "due process" means.

Due process is the constitutional requirement that people receive certain protections from the government: "no person shall be...deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." A person accused of a crime has the right to an attorney, the right to cross-examine witnesses, the right not to incriminate himself, the right to a fair trial in general, etc. Due process means the government can't just toss suspected criminals in cages and throw away the key. For these reasons, it's a powerful bulwark against an authoritarian state and an important defender of the liberties of people who are especially vulnerable to state-sanctioned repression (Muslim Americans after 9/11, for instance).

Whether you think Rob Porter is guilty has nothing to do with due process. Due process does not require citizens to withhold judgment about an allegation until the matter is litigated. Due process applies to law enforcement and the justice system, not to the court of public opinion . . .

. . . Trump's tweet was inviting easy criticism already, because it comes across as callous toward a group of people—survivors of assault—who deserve respect and sympathy. People's lives are indeed destroyed by false accusations, and false accusations may be more common than some oft-cited statistics seem to suggest. But of course people's lives are also hurt significantly by domestic abuse and sexual assault. The tweet doesn't even acknowledge that . . .

[roamer_1]

Whether you think Rob Porter is guilty has nothing to do with due process. Due process does not require citizens to withhold judgment about an allegation until the matter is litigated. Due process applies to law enforcement and the justice system, not to the court of public opinion . . .

YES IT DOES, or it SHOULD  apply to the court of public opinion.
It is the basis of the fair treatment one should receive when accused. And it is against Christian principles as well.

To give the waggin tongues of gossipers a free reign in public opinion - enough to tear a person down  - is shameful.

[Oceander]

YES IT DOES, or it SHOULD  apply to the court of public opinion.
It is the basis of the fair treatment one should receive when accused. And it is against Christian principles as well.

To give the waggin tongues of gossipers a free reign in public opinion - enough to tear a person down  - is shameful.

No, it shouldn’t, and it couldn’t even if you tried, except unless if you’re willing to become a tyrant on the scale of North Korea. 

[driftdiver]

Meanwhile Hollyweird is silent on Tarantino and Weinstein.

Well not exactly silent, they are mostly supporting them.

[roamer_1]

No, it shouldn’t, and it couldn’t even if you tried, except unless if you’re willing to become a tyrant on the scale of North Korea.

Wrong. It used to be in the hearts of the people. A sense of fair play that took no governance whatsoever.
News outlets that peddled gossip were called gossip rags, and most folks set no store by them.

Now ALL news is nothing different than the gossip rags used to be, and public opinion is weaponized in order to destroy people..

That ain't right.

[EasyAce]

To give the waggin tongues of gossipers a free reign in public opinion - enough to tear a person down  - is shameful.

@roamer_1
No sane person loves gossip, but there's a difference between malicious gossip and forming an opinion based on known information. Human nature being unfortunately what it is,
the distinction between the two is blurred too often, but it remains so that known information will provoke men and women to form what you hope is an informed opinion---positive
or negative, depending. If enough information about, say, Mr. Porter was made known, it's not necessarily to gossip to form and even discuss the view one way or the other; but
if you have only a suspicion based on nothing more than an uninformed supposition, that's something else entirely.

[driftdiver]

We've seen plenty of false accusations.  They are usually just quietly allowed to fade away after destroying their target. 

So gossip really isnt that good of a source.  surprisingly

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1
No sane person loves gossip, but there's a difference between malicious gossip and forming an opinion based on known information. Human nature being unfortunately what it is,
the distinction between the two is blurred too often, but it remains so that known information will provoke men and women to form what you hope is an informed opinion---positive
or negative, depending. If enough information about, say, Mr. Porter was made known, it's not necessarily to gossip to form and even discuss the view one way or the other; but
if you have only a suspicion based on nothing more than an uninformed supposition, that's something else entirely.

@EasyAce
I wholly disagree. Your premise depends upon information being sourced reliably, which is impossible now.
I pay none of it any mind, or I advocate for  'innocent until proven guilty'... That which used to be the American standard.

If there is evidence, then charge the man. Or sue the man.
Otherwise STFU.

Likely that isn't understood, unless you are falsely accused. Then you'd appreciate it.
And that is what our society used to consider the standard.

[Concerned]

This “due process” argument is just another typical Trump red-herring IMO.  Porter couldn’t get past his interim security clearance.  Employers make decisions about the employability of their employees due to their inability to able to get a security clearance all the time.  That has nothing to do with “due process”.   If Trump is truly so concerned about “due process” in this case, why did he accept Porter’s resignation before this supposed “due process” was done?

[truth_seeker]

The media withheld stories about FDR's wheelchair, Eisenhower's mistress, JFK's affairs, Rock Hudson's homosexuality, and many other private life details.

I happen to believe America was better for this journalistic self-censorship. (not perfect, just better....)

 

[Cyber Liberty]

I thought we already proved with Roy Moore that proving allegations is for saps?