The following is from Masayuki Takayama's column in the weekly Shincho, published on April 11, 2024.
This article also proves that he is the one and only journalist in the postwar world.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
An Immature Nation
The L.A. riots began when a young black man, Rodney King, was beaten to a pulp by white police officers.
A nearby person videotaped the scene and broadcast it to the world.
A California district court tried the officers for assault.
The verdict was not guilty.
In the U.S., an acquittal at the first trial means that the prosecution cannot appeal the verdict, so the acquittal is final.
This is because the verdict is rendered by the sovereign "citizens" of the U.S., and the prosecution is not allowed to challenge it.
In Islamic Iran, adultery is punishable by death without a defense attorney.
It is because Allah has decided so.
No one can argue with God.
It is similar to that.
Another reason for not being able to appeal is that it was interpreted as a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits "double jeopardy," since the case would be "tried again for the same crime as the one in the appellate court."
The Japanese Constitution, which the U.S. created, also states that "no one shall be held liable for the same offense more than once.
An appeal can be filed in Japan even if the defendant is acquitted at the first trial.
It is because the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution as "one trial through three trials."
It is an excellent example of how a flawed constitution can be implemented appropriately if the interpretation is changed.
In the U.S., however, there is no such interpretation.
The four police officers were acquitted in the first trial.
The blacks were not happy about it and started a riot, which led to the L.A. riots that burned the city for six days.
It was the middle of the presidential election in which Clinton was challenging the reelection of his father, George W. Bush.
If all four men are found not guilty, the black vote will go away.
He wanted a new trial and a new conviction.
So, the Justice Department moved in.
The state law was no longer available, so the federal civil rights law was used to try them.
The substance of the case is the same as the state law trial.
He is tried for assaulting Rodney King.
It's a reshaped appeals court, but this time, it's federal law, not state law.
So, the interpretation doesn't seem like a "double jeopardy."
I thought the court would see through the sophistry and dismiss the case right out of the gate, but no such thing happened.
The appeal was accepted, and the court was opened, just as the president wanted.
There is a view that such nonsense can go unchecked because U.S. society is immature.
Even the separation of powers is ambiguous in the U.S., and even judges are politically motivated by the secularity of the Democrats or Republicans.
The newspapers do not criticize this.
In 1995, a female American college student was killed in Gaza as collateral damage in a terrorist attack.
The bereaved family was outraged, and the legislature hastened to introduce a bill for state prosecution of terrorism.
The bill included a clause stating that the law was retroactive and was enacted as is.
Article I of the U.S. Constitution states that "the law shall not be made retroactive," but no one cared.
The families were happy to sue Iran, and the court ordered Iran to pay $250 million.
Iran countered with retroactivity of the law, but the U.S. didn't care.
It sees where justice is done and where it is not.
So, the four officers were tried again in the same case, and two of the three whites were found guilty.
If all whites are guilty, the white vote will flee, and the other Hispanic cop will be tied to the Hispanic vote.
It was a well-done ruling.
But the verdict came five months after the presidential election was over; the black vote never returned, and that color-crazed Clinton was the new president.
Now Trump is challenging Biden.
Biden is no good; prices are up, illegal immigration and crime are up, and diplomacy continues to fail.
But he has the Democrats with him.
The attorneys general of each state are washing their hands of Trump's past, suing him for his seven-year-old affair hush-hush, and another prosecutor is charging him for taking classified documents out of the country.
He's also been accused of falsifying real estate prices in civil cases.
In total, 90 lawsuits have been filed amid the presidential election.
The Democratic Party-affiliated judges accept all of them.
Even the Japanese District Public Prosecutor's Office does not file cases on New Year's Day.
They have manners as human beings.
When will the American society mature?
It is a pathetic country.
2024/4/12 in Kyoto
