Protect Due Process and Innocence Presumption
for Michigan School Shooter Parents
Facebook: Jennifer and James Crumbley
By Dean Weingarten. Dec 23, 2021
As this correspondent reads accounts of the latest media inspired school shooting, there was an obvious theme: blame the parents. Convict them before any evidence is presented in court. Indict them with crimes seldom used in such circumstances. Declare they are fugitives in a "manhunt".
This is all depressingly familiar. The media smells gun control blood in the water. They launch a narrative: all is the fault of the parents. The narrative advances their political agenda and masks their own liability. The Constitutional rights of gun owners, especially of white gun owners, are not considered worthy of protecting. The mother, Jennifer Crumbley, even supported President Trump in 2016!
How dare she!
The Trump-support letter, supposedly a blog post written in November of 2016, is claimed by some to be a hoax. Is it? This correspondent does not know. Time will help clear the confusion.
This correspondent does not know all the details of what happened. No one does at this point. A narrative is being formed and pushed with little fact and little due process. The Michigan prosecutor has announced four counts of involuntary manslaughter charges for each parent, with very little investigation, and lots of publicity. The public is inflamed. The sheriff in the county says this is not the way things are usually done.
Calls for harsh punishment of the Crumbley parents is common on the Internet.
..... 
Whatever people think about this situation, there is little doubt that the usual hasty "rush-to-judgement" from the media almost inevitably displays the 'knee-jerk' effect which inflicts immediate bias - hardly due process!
"It is time to call for calm, legal and responsible investigation, and a cooling period to prevent emotional overreactions when careful thought and consideration is required."
