Post by RS Davis on Mar 10, 2004 20:36:03 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Paul Craig Roberts Wrote:[/glow]The Kafkaesque indictment, trial and conviction of Martha Stewart is a devastating blow both to the US legal system and to belief in the American socio-economic system.
As Lawrence Stratton and I have demonstrated in our book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, very little remains of the legal protections that once defined the Anglo-American legal system. Today hapless defendants are convicted not only in the absence of criminal intent but also in the absence of statutory felonies.
Martha Stewart was indicted for lying and obstructing justice. For these offenses to have any meaning, there must be a crime that she lied about and obstructed. The prosecutors presented no such crime. Stewart was indicted and convicted for lying and obstructing a crime when no crime happened.
As Lawrence Stratton and I have demonstrated in our book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, very little remains of the legal protections that once defined the Anglo-American legal system. Today hapless defendants are convicted not only in the absence of criminal intent but also in the absence of statutory felonies.
Martha Stewart was indicted for lying and obstructing justice. For these offenses to have any meaning, there must be a crime that she lied about and obstructed. The prosecutors presented no such crime. Stewart was indicted and convicted for lying and obstructing a crime when no crime happened.
- Rick
Check out Roberts' book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions!
