“Innocent until proven guilty (both a Jewish and American concept) means we dont convict based on the press reports, hearsay, or he said/she said claims and ruin a persons life and reputation prior to proof has been fully made and a conviction obtained.”
Firstly it is legally PRESUMED innocent.” The distinction is important, because if the person was considered innocent, he or she would not be arrested in the first place. People are convicted on things other than concrete evidence ALL the time, make no mistake about that. They are also let go, despite overwhelming evidence (OJ, anyone?) to the contrary. As to reputation – once someone has been accused, his/her reputation has gone to the dogs, no matter what truth comes out in the end, especially where molestation is concerned. People usually believe the old adage that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” and iof it was not true this time, it probably was true at SOME time.