I Am Not Embarrassed by the Crimes of Others!

On March 24, South Carolina law enforcement officials arrested the former mayor of Atlantic Beach, SC and the formerr town manager of that community, charging them with various felony and misdemeanor offenses. In the wake of their arrests, a friend emailed me a copy of the story and confessed that he was embarrassed because these two African American women, alleged community leaders, face these charges. In my response to him, I declared:

I am not embarrassed!

Being charged with a crime does not mean that the suspect is guilty. Remember, our system of jurisprudence claims that a person enters the courtroom cloaked in a presumption of innocence. The burden rests with the charging agency, in this case, The State of South Carolina, through its jurisdictional prosecutor, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As the judge will explain to the jury, assuming a plea bargin deal does not develop, a reasonable doubt is not based in fancy, or preferene, but is a doubt that arises from a rational, reasonable and careful understanding and analysis of the evidence as presented in court. So let's reserve judgment until all the evidence is in and the courts have spoken.

Here's the background as quoted from a news account in a Myrtle Beach, SC newspaper: "Suspended Alantic Beach mayor Irene Armstrong and Town Manager Marcia Conner turned themselves in to State Law Enforcement Division authorities Monday morning (March 24, 2008). Armstrong and Conner were briefly jailed at J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway. They each posted $15,000 bail and were released. Judge Aaron Butler set their bonds . . .Gov. Mark Sanford issued an order Friday (March 21, 2008) to suspend Armstrong, one day after she was charged with three felony counts of bribery at elections and two misdemeanor counts of misconduct in office. Conner is charged with two counts of misconduct in office and one count of violating an employer's obligation to police retirement funds."