- - - Terrel Brown wrote (excerpt) - - -
> If Mayor Rybak wants to rebuild trust in City Hall,
> he should start by demanding the resignation of
> Councilmember Joe Biernat. The other members of the
> city council should do the same thing, they
> certainly shouldn't allow him to remain as chair of
> the committee which supervises the function that the
> indictment (and the confession we read about in the
> papers) involves.
- - - end excerpt - - -
I personally believe that Biernat did what he is
accused of and I strongly believe that he should
resign.
However, I do not believe his resignation should be
demanded, and the reason is because I believe more
strongly in not undermining due process of law.
If the man did what he is accused of, he knows it, and
any shred of honor he has should demand that he
resigns.
However, he has not gone through trial and so he is
innocent until proven guilty and no resignation should
be officially demanded as it is presuming guilt.
Due process of law is one of those things that
strongly protects US citizens and their personal
freedoms. Rights and freedoms have been disappearing
for some time and I am loathe to let any more of them
go without a struggle.
Imagine if you were accused of a crime and although
some evidence suggests you may have done it, you are
innocent. Should you get fired from your job and
suffer other punishments before your guilt is proven?
Absolutely not - otherwise why bother with a judicial
system at all? Let's just do as Bush wants and trim it
all down to just an executive branch - after all, it's
a lot easier to run things in a dictatorship.
I do think it is reasonable to suggest he resign, but
not demand. The suggestion needn't even be an
assumption of guilt - it could be based on the fact
that his ability to do the job may be comprimised due
to perceptions of him.
As I said, my gut ("tummy") tells me that he probably
did do this, but just like every citizen, he is
innocent until proven guilty.
Btw, if he is proven guilty, I would like to see
additional charges brought to bear for lying about it.
. . .
OH HEY, speaking of "innocent until proven guilty" and
American citizens, I request that the Minneapolis City
Council pass an official statement expressing the
opinion that the two people being held indefinitely as
"enemy combatants" without charges, counsel, or trial
need to be either charged with a crime and given their
lawyer or let go.
Can you imagine? People (citizens at that) are being
held indefinitely without charges or counsel and we're
all just sitting here going "ok"! The "Justice"
Department even refused orders from a (federal?) Judge
who was trying to look into this.
Seriously, city leaders, make a statement that
Minneapolis believes in the constitution, the bill of
rights, and the rule of law! I heard your concerns
about Ashcroft's actions of late - make a statement!
Charges and a lawyer, or they gotta go free.
- Jason Goray, Sheridan, NE
(Btw, am I mistaken or was Herron accused of extortion
whereas Biernat is accused of "quid-pro-quo")
(Dang, that makes 2 posts so I'll have to leave my
discussion of how to prevent terrorism by being nice
to people for later.)
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
http://sbc.yahoo.com
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
