{"id":467,"date":"2017-06-27T11:30:03","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T15:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=467"},"modified":"2019-03-21T15:51:05","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T19:51:05","slug":"beyond-bars-innocent-until-proven-guilty","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/beyond-bars-innocent-until-proven-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Bars: Innocent Until Proven Guilty?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By C. Martin Sterling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newark, NJ<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are assured that if we are charged with a crime in the \u201cLand of the Free,\u201d we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are handcuffed and shackled in front of friends, family, and neighbors, though we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are vilified by the media, for an online eternity, with nothing more than a tiny disclaimer noting that we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are patted-down, strip-searched, and humiliated by total strangers in unfamiliar settings, but we remain,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are allowed fifteen-minute phone calls and get to see family through thick glass, yet we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We lose jobs, have friendships fractured, and end relationships, despite being,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are berated, discriminated against, and treated as subhuman, but we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We lose the ability to make decisions for ourselves: when to eat, when to sleep, where to walk, but we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are only the \u201caccused,\u201d the \u201ccharged,\u201d the \u201cdetained,\u201d not the \u201cconvicted,\u201d so the law says that we are,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this before any judge or jury hands down a verdict. So much for,<\/p>\n

\u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By C. Martin Sterling Newark, NJ We are assured that if we are charged with a crime in the \u201cLand of the Free,\u201d we are, \u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d We are handcuffed and shackled in front of friends, family, and neighbors, though we are, \u201cinnocent until proven guilty.\u201d We are vilified by the media, for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[141],"issuem_issue_categories":[188],"issuem_issue_tags":[28,143,29],"class_list":["post-467","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-42-no-23-summerfall-2017","issuem_issue_categories-beyond-bars","issuem_issue_tags-beyond-bars","issuem_issue_tags-poem","issuem_issue_tags-prisons","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t