This will be short and maybe not so sweet for some of you.
But “due process” is a concept of fairness to the accused, whether in a corporation or the senate, or a court of law. It is a GOAL, and it should be.
I don’t want to argue about Franken for one more minute, really. He’s gone, it’ done.
However, I am bothered by those who can “parse” till the cows come home. Those who say “due process” is a legal term that only applies where it applies. Why should this be true?
Yes, a company can fire your butt any time it wants to. But if y’all haven’t noticed, this freedom has been severely curtailed. We see this in the rise of HR departments. HR is now a huge industry. Who of us ever heard of it 30 years ago when many of us were making our bones.
The reason for this is, companies don’t want to be sued. The purpose of HR is to deter this possibility from the get go, and yes, sometimes to deny legitimate claims. BUT, HR is there for a reason and does and must involve due process at its best, even if we can’t say this always works the way it should. ie, Fox News, just to throw out one place where HR had no meaning. And I know there are many more.
Still, my point is “due process” should not be just a legal term applied to our courts. Every accused deserves due process, imo , however we hammer that out in our various government and industries, and small businesses, and academic circles.
To me, it’s just really a matter of fairness.
And I am also disturbed by many here who decided they could decide what the conclusion of an ethics investigation might be for Franken. They gave it no credibility. Some of the biggest voices on this site, pooh poohed this. This, WAY OUTSIDE THE ISSUE OF FRANKEN, scares me to death.
Well, if you believe this, then I throw my hands up, in that you have just resigned the fate of all those accused in the congress or the senate, up to the result of public opinion and politics.
No, I don’t like that. And I wish Franken had gotten the ethics investigation he asked for. I have NO idea whether he would have survived that or not. And, I never will.
Don’t tell me “due process” is just a legal term. It’s a CONCEPT in how we treat those accused. Wherever it happens. And hold on to your bonnet, Nelly, because this will hardly be the last time we are asked what due process means, and how many ways some will try to limit it, rather than expand it.
Oh, and please don’t tell me that Franken had a choice here. Because I’m going to laugh at that. He really didn’t. His colleagues decided he didn’t deserve an ethics investigation. Make NO mistake, at least about that.
But like I said, Franken is NO LONGER AN ISSUE, per say. He might be an issue in what we would wish to do better in the future. He might not. The degree of public attention span for this sort of thing, in these days, is….well, you fill in the words.
Wherever we disagree about Franken, can we not agree that “due process” is an important concept?!?! Really struggling with my people that they just don’t think it is.
Because right now, the right wing is using Franken’s resignation as proof that Roy Moore is innocent. Yep. That is happening.
It’s complicated, and deserves lots of thought, not knee jerk reaction.