Stardate 20011222.2304 (On Screen): The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees a large number of rights to defendants in criminal trials, most especially the right to counsel. Our legal system is based on the principle of two advocates making the best case that they can in front of an impartial judge and jury who then decide which side made the best case. Even when you have a thoroughly despicable criminal on trial (e.g. McVeigh) it is important that he be given the best defense that is possible.
This is important for us, not for him. If a defense attorney, in good faith, makes the best case he can for his client and it turns out to be feeble, then this makes it easier for the jury to make the right decision to convict. By the same token, if the state makes a weak case then the defendant will rightfully go free. If only one side in the case were heard (as happens in other parts of the world) then we could never be sure. But because McVeigh got a fair trial with a competent defense, we as citizens can feel much more confident that we did the right thing to execute him.
Which is why, ironically, I must confess my gratitude to Ted Rall for existing and doing the writing he's been doing. Because he is doing his best to try to defend the anti-war position and doing such a pathetically miserable job of it, he is ironically convincing the majority of those who read what he writes that the opposite position -- that this war is one we should be fighting -- is right. Ted Rall is the Dove's gift to the Hawks. (discuss)
