American Justice
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
One of the wonderful things about America is that all of us – even the rich and famous – are subject to the rule of law. So the district attorney of Santa Barbara County, Thomas Sneddon Jr., was able to haul Michael Jackson into court and cost him millions in legal fees and months of his life. It was a punishment in its own right.
But another great thing about America is that all of us receive the presumption of innocence, and that in order to convict in a criminal case, a jury of our peers must find the evidence convincing beyond a reasonable doubt. And so yesterday, the jury of four men and eight women in the case of The People of the State of California v. Michael Joe Jackson found the rich and famous pop music star not guilty on all counts.
The jurors included a supermarket worker, a horse trainer, and a computer programmer. In the end, Mr. Jackson’s fate was in their hands. Some will remark on the decadence of American celebrity culture and the excesses of the press coverage. Some will question how the authorities could have permitted these charges to be brought in the first place. Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer in 2001 in part for her coverage of the false prosecutions for child abuse.
The American legal system has its faults with respect to civil justice and class actions. It is not perfect. In this case, the flaws in the American civil justice system may even have spilled over into the criminal system, with the jurors disbelieving Mr. Jackson’s accuser because they suspected his family’s motives. They seemed to be suggesting that parents should take some responsibility for protecting their children rather than relying on the courts.
Yet as the television chatterers fell silent yesterday as a clerk read the verdict awaited by millions, we just had a rush of admiration for American justice. Part of it is that no one is above the law. But part of it, too, lies in the concept of “beyond a reasonable doubt” and the idea that the rich and famous are entitled to the same presumption of innocence as the rest of Americans.
