I mentioned in a post yesterday that I should not read any more Internet polls because they annoy me so much.  In addition to the one which claimed that the Republicans were traitors, two others caught my eye:

Should Casey Anthony have been convicted?
Should gays have the right to marry?

Both of them annoy me for exactly the same reason.  There seems to be an underlying assumption that the exercise of constitutional rights is somehow open to debate by the general public.

With a very few exceptions, people had their information about the Casey Anthony trial filtered through the lens of the popular media.  The popular media have every interest in inflaming public opinion: it sells papers and garners ratings.  Irrelevancies are expounded upon as if they are crucial.  The jury, on the other hand, has to look at relevant evidence, and has to examine the credibility of witnesses for the prosecution and the defense.  They cannot take on faith that what purports to be clear evidence of guilt is such.  They are rightfully required to acquit if the evidence presented by the prosecution does not show guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

That "beyond a reasonable doubt" requirement is very important.  A person should not be sent to jail because some large number of people who are following the trial half-heartedly, or only through what is shown on their television set expounded by people such as former prosecutor Nancy Grace, believe that the accused committed the crime. Not to mention the part of the public who believe that People magazine is a credible news source.  Occasionally, will someone get away with murder? Possibly.  No system is perfect.  But the alternative is worse:  the likelihood that innocent people will suffer is inevitable.

Case in point: Richard Jewell.  Remember Richard Jewell? He was the security guard whom the FBI listed as a suspect in the Olympic park bombing.  The media presented so called "evidence" against him and a great many people thought he was the bomber and should go to jail.

Problem was, he did not commit the bombing, serial bomber Eric Rudolph did.  Jewell's life was ruined, even after the FBI cleared him. Had he gone to trial, the pretty flimsy evidence against him would have been touted by the media as being overwhelming, resulting in people calling for his conviction. And many people are far too in love with law enforcement: there is a mentality out there which says that the cops would not have picked someone up had they not done whatever they were accused of.  In many cases that's true, but cops are human* and make mistakes and are often subject to pressures that high profile cases get solved as soon as possible.

And now for that other Internet poll:

My objection to that one is simple: rights -- and I do believe that same-sex marriage is a right -- are not and should not be a matter of public opinion.  The Constitution (not to mention state constitutions) exist to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Had Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia been a matter of public opinion at the time, then segregation would still be legal and states could still control who gets to marry based on race.

I personally know people who strongly oppose the separation of church and state.  These people have no problem with sectarian prayers in public schools.  If it were a matter of voting, these people could easily mobilize their base and, at least in some areas of the country, impose their sectarian beliefs on schoolchildren of other faiths or none at all.

As I said, I hate Internet polls.

*Don't get me wrong: cops have a very difficult job, one that I could not do.  For the most part, they are conscientious public servants.  They are, however, as human as the rest of us.  They make mistakes sometime.