Crimson Lake

Candice Fox

2 ideas

1. Dropped charges never restore presumed innocence

   A trial that ends in acquittal produces a public verdict, but a prosecution abandoned for insufficient evidence produces none. Suspicion stays permanently open, and 'not proven guilty' is heard as 'guilty but got away with it.' With crimes against children, the accusation alone works as the sentence.

2. Communities punish when courts fail to convict

   When the legal system releases someone the public already believes is guilty, locals, media and even police step in with their own informal punishment. That punishment takes the form of harassment, vandalism, surveillance and threats. The informal punishment is harsher than a sentence because it has no end date, no appeal and no standard of proof.

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