My daughter asked me the other day what my biggest pet peeve is. I stammered for a minute, and then said something like, "when people leave their stuff all over the floor instead of putting it away." Which IS a big one, and also very mom-appropriate. But I also wasn't sure how to explain to a second-grader how intensely annoying I find it when the masses on social media start throwing around terms like "due process" and "beyond a reasonable doubt" and even "guilt" without any regard to what those terms mean and how they apply in real life.
SIDENOTE: I have been meaning for days to look up what the political term "tic toc" apparently means, but I can hardly believe it's a real thing and also I'm google-lazy.
I mean, I feel like Wikipedia probably covers it (also wiki-lazy), but don't people get that due process is a specific thing granted to us by the Constitution to prevent takings of things and, let's say, FREEDOM from citizens by the government? Why does everyone think that somehow means women are not allowed to say the truth out loud if someone assaults them without some court finding to back them up? DUDE, IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY.
Same for "proving" someone "guilty." Guilty only applies in criminal courts, last I checked. And PS, you prove a person guilty by using evidence like TESTIMONY (see above). The judge or the jury then weighs the strength of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses and renders a decision. And even if a jury finds there wasn't enough to put someone in jail because they still had a reasonable doubt, it's not like that makes a person innocent. It just means they don't go to jail.
AND, that very same case may come to a different result in civil court, where there is no requirement that anything be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt." See, e.g., OJ.
Also, due process outside of the criminal courts doesn't require it.
I know these are silly things to get all up in arms about, but I just. Can't. Take. It. Any. More.
It's not like I need everyone to go to law school, but I do think it would be cool if people who were say, like, members of Congress could spend a minute bothering to understand this before they pop off making things worse than they already are. I also may be watching too much cable news.
But on Twitter, man, everyone is an expert--even when they are too lazy to google. Remember when if you raised your hand with a wrong answer at school, someone said you were wrong and you listened to the RIGHT answer? Ain't nobody doing that on Facebook. Or Twitter. And, presumably, Snapchat, although evidently I am too old to understand how that shit works.