The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The more I see of the American’s interpretation of freedom, the more I appreciate our British inherited system of justice underpinned by law. And that is why the chipping away at an independent judicial system here in The Bahamas by power hungry politicians who believe they should control every sector of our lives – right down to our private correspondence – becomes daily more abhorrent. And of more concern to most of us.

In our system of justice if, for example, a murder is committed, the police release the barest of facts. These facts are printed by the press with whatever else they can flesh the story out with by talking to family, friends and co-workers. However, once an accused is captured, and taken shackled on his slow walk between police officers from the holding cell to the court house, anything more than whatever takes place in court is closed to further press investigation. Unlike, the US, which seems to try everything in the columns of the newspaper, therefore, prejudicing a case that is yet to go to trial, in our system an accused is now in the custody of the courts, and a newspaper publishes anything outside of that at its peril. An accused is truly innocent until proven guilty — and proven by the courts, not the mob.

Not so, in the US. In Charlotte, for example,they seem intent on burning a town down, because police had not released the video tape of the murder scene to allow each member of the town to be judge and jury and decide whether the victim was gunned down in cold blood or whether there was provocation for the shooting. Rather than allow police time to investigate and slowly put the jigsaw puzzle of evidence together for presentation to the only place equipped to adjudicate – the courts – they are prepared to destroy their town.

In measured tones, the police chief told them that to release the footage now could harm the investigation, which the state is leading. In our system of justice, he would never had had to have made such a decision.

My memory goes back to the days of Irish magistrate John Bailey, who one day was hearing a case in Freeport. I don’t remember the details — but it was in the early days of Lynden Pindling, who, as opposition leader, wanted to be prime minister.

If I recall Mr Bailey was hearing a case of an offending taxi driver. A small demonstration of taxi drivers formed outside the courthouse with Pindling at its head. Ostensibly, it was to pressure the foreign magistrate to find in favour of their man. As soon as Magistrate Bailey realised what was going on he ordered a police officer to bring Mr Pindling before him. He proceeded to give the future prime minister a good dressing down for attempting to interfere with justice and ordered him to warm his pants on the seat of a bench of his court, where the was to sit for the rest of the day to purge his contempt.

Mr Pindling quickly learned on that day who was boss in the court room.

Again, thank God for our system, which, although not perfect, prevents citizens from showing their displeasure by destruction.

ALL FOR FREEDOM

NOT LICENCE

Nassau,

September 24, 2016.