[HPforGrownups] Re: Fudge - Lockhart - Florences, Slugs - Why Harry Lived...

[JamiDeise at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19539

In a message dated 5/26/2001 10:02:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
meboriqua at aol.com writes:

<< The way the law is dealt with in the wizarding world is a very 
 interesting issue.  It seems to me that the MoM often uses "guilty 
 until proven innocent" tactics instead of the other way around.  >> I 
believe that is the British system of law, someone please correct me if I'm 
wrong. But I'm pretty sure that while it's "innocent until proven guilty" in 
the States, in Britain it's "guilty under proven innocent," and the onus is 
on the defendent, not the prosecution. 
 
 <<Sending Sirius off to Azkaban without a trial is definitely a panicked 
 response to a dire situation.  I suppose it reminds me of McCarthyism 
 here in the States when so many people were blacklisted simply because 
 our government decided that *any* association (however distant) with 
 certain other systems of governments was bad, bad, bad and had to be 
 stopped. >> The whole McCarthyism seemed particularly prevalent in the 
trials that Harry got to see in the Pensieve ... especially Karkaroff giving 
up the names of his fellow DEs (or maybe anyone ...) to save his butt, and 
the whole atmosphere of distrust and suspicion that surrounded those times. 

I can't understand why they weren't all just given the Veritaserum.

Jami