It seems simple.
The US Constitution.
Go to a law library. All of those books are interpretations of that one document.
I love chiding Shane, but he is beyond right on this. We have rules in place, although they do fail sometimes, such as Manson's death sentence being commuted to life in prison.
The constitution does work. It is what our military fights for every day.
Each person has their day in court. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses, sometimes he was not the person that should have been in shackles, because he was innocent.
Regardless, we have an obligation to keep folks that we incarcerate, safe. That is written in stone.
We also have to PROVE someone guitly before treating them like a criminal. Sheriff Joe is really bad about this. He treates everyone that comes through his system as a criminal and feeds them green meat and makes them do time in his little world.
We do have rights still, right? I am not so sure anymore.