Thursday, May 04, 2006

Oliver Wendell Bush

One certainly doesn't have to be a lawyer to be president, but a basic working familiarity with our legal system should be a prerequisite for the office.

Check out this pearl of legal wisdom:

"The jury convicted him [Zacarias Moussaoui] to life in prison."

Excuse me, but..NO!!

Convict (verb) "To find or prove (someone) guilty of an offense or crime, especially by the verdict of a court."

Juries don't "convict" someone to a particular sentence. He entered a guilty plea, and according to the definition above, was already "guilty." The trial then moved to the penalty phase, which is totally separate from the "conviction." Geez, this is "Law and Order"-level stuff.

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