Safeguards for the Criminally Accused

Until such time as persons are proven guilty of crimes, they should be accorded full respect for their individual rights. We are opposed to reduction of constitutional safeguards of the rights of the criminally accused.

We oppose labeling cases as "civil" strictly to avoid the due process protections of criminal law and we further oppose governmental civil and criminal pretrial seizure of property for criminal offenses.

We oppose law enforcement officers using excessive force on anyone (including the disorderly or the criminally accused) or handing out what they may consider to be instant punishment on the streets, to include preventive detention, and no-knock laws. Instant-punishment policies deprive the accused of important checks on government and police power to juries and the judicial process.

We support full restitution for all loss suffered by persons arrested, indicted, tried, imprisoned, or otherwise injured in the course of criminal proceedings against them that do not result in their conviction. When individually proven responsible, government police employees or agents should be held liable for restitution (whether damages result from physical abuse, neglect or incarceration).

We call for a reform of the judicial system, which currently prevents litigants from recouping the costs of successful civil litigation against defendants proven guilty or liable.