Innoccent Until Proven Guilty
by Jordan Cooper
Innocent until proven guilty is provided by a British common law tradition. It protects the accused from false imprisonment. It protects the accused from a partial trial. Finally, it protects the innocent from being unjustly punished. A lot of our citizens despise being dependent on others, but we get so many of our laws from our mother’s country (laughs). Many of the accused cannot pay for legal counsel in court and an attorney is appointed for them.
However, what if they are found innocent?
These people have spent money on transportation to and from the court for hearings, trial, and other administrative needs. The judge can say not guilty, but some of the unfortunate are left with only lint in their pockets (laughs). Our courts should provide transportation reimbursements for the indigently accused that are found innocent. Investigatory immunity is given to all police officers for keeping the public safe. All the police have to meet is probable cause to arrest you. Yet, if the government’s cases are deficient of a reasonable doubt the court has wasted an innocent person’s time.
Our state attorney general’s office here in South Carolina rarely drops cases and only 26 have been dropped since the year of 2000-2013. Former AG and current Lt. Governor Henry McMaster has nolle prossed the most cases for a SC attorney general since the new millennium, and a lot have resulted in plea deals for African-Americans, which is the most on state record too. However, this may seen as overcharging to some experts and a significant number of those plea deals resulted in prison.
For an example, in the largest state in the Southeast Florida’s AG’s office has only nolle prossed one case between 2000-2013. There has not been a state attorney general themselves that has ever dropped a case against a person in South Carolina from 2000-2013.
Not all of these prosecutions get a guilty verdict and those that are in the clear should be rewarded as with other areas of law. Reimbursements for transportation of poorly innocent accused people is needed for fairness in our criminal justice system.
Jordan Thomas Cooper is a 2015 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in History and a 2010 graduate of the RealEstate School of Success in Irmo. He is the first African-American to serve in both the governor and lieutenant governor’s office as an aide and first to serve in the Inspector General’s Office in S.C. (Haley) He is also the first person to serve in the top three offices in the gubernatorial line of succession in South Carolina (Haley, Bauer, McConnell). He says research shows he is the second black presidential campaign speechwriter in American history and the first for a GOP presidential campaign (Bush 2015). He also played football for Coach Steve Spurrier.