John R. Carroll wrote:
Our entire society ( American ) is based on the premise that we would rather
let the guilty go free in a pinch rather than sacrifice the governments
burden to prove guilt. That is where "beyond a reasonable doubt" comes in.
THIS is what's wrong with things like the Patriot Act and warrantless
searches. The presumption of innocence goes out the window in advance of any
process. The Constitution either means something or it doesn't. It, and our
laws, either applies equally or they don't.
The term "Fighting for Our Freedoms" means Americans are willing to bear the
associated burden, die even. It's worth the price of liberty to do so.

I agree that letting a guilty person go free might be better than
losing our freedom but what the uproar is all about is not that. It's
about possibly missing a chance to stop a major attack which could
result in a potential huge loss of life. Nobody is breaking into
houses. The phone calls monitored are overseas with suspected
terrorists or their friends. Maybe mistakes will be made but to not try
could be worse.
GW