Problems of Proof

[tirinian]

Quick, where were you on March 12, 1991? Can you account for your whereabouts the whole day? If someone said you were lying, how would you prove them wrong?

That's why we have statutes of limitations. Because we think it is fundamentally unfair to make someone defend themself against accusations of things long enough ago that it's effectively impossible to actually mount a defense. Remember that, when people start talking about how they "tie the hands of prosecutors" or "protect criminals." They protect people from having to defend themselves from ancient accusations. This country's not supposed to believe that accusations make someone a criminal.

I'll be seriously annoyed if the Legislature caves on this one.

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On another topic entirely, a scenario.

New guy shows up in town. Goes to a store to buy a bed and some bedclothes, but doesn't have money for them, so asks if he can buy them on credit. Store owner guy says "no can do on the loan, but I tell you what, I've got a double bed, you can sleep with me tonight." The men continue to share a bed for four years, while writing journal entries and letters and stuff about their deep and abiding affection for each other and the life-long bond they have formed. Is that enough to convince you they're (probably) doing more than just sleeping?

Does it make a difference if New Guy had previously been interested in a young woman who died, and that he later goes on to get married?

Does it make a difference if this is happening in the 1830's?

Does it make a difference if the New Guy is Abraham Lincoln?

The history of Lincoln I'm reading currently more or less sets out these facts, and says "well, that's really not enough, and we don't really know if they were having sex," with a clear implication that we should assume they weren't. She justifies this by claiming that it wasn't such terribly uncommon behavior in that era, but that just invites the response "so maybe lots of guys were having sex with each other," and leaves me wondering what could possibly convince her. Not even about Lincoln, necessarily, just in general for some random guy from the period. Or does she believe that guy-on-guy sex just disappeared and no one did it between the Greeks and Oscar Wilde?

Comments

Re: March 12, 1991

[twe.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head that would be spring semester of my junior year. Patriot's day weekend would have been the next weekend, since that's closer to the 19th, so there should have been classes. It's a Tuesday, so no junior lab or LSC meeting, but quite possibly 8.06. If it was a year earlier, I totally say you and I and jcatelli were sitting in the APO office during 8.04 eating lunch. Shadows ran in February, because packet handout was on Valentine's day, so that was long over. If anything particularly memorable happened that day, the memory is not strongly attached to the date, but like you, I could probably recreate some of my whereabouts had I access to my records as I write this. :)

Re: March 12, 1991

[ironrat.livejournal.com]

If it was a Tuesday and otherwise not a holiday, I would have been in school, in the third grade, with Mrs. Anderson, until about 3:30... After that, I will probably need to track down my best friend at the time Greg to get me an alibi, but I think he's in New Mexico or something strange like that.