()pen(arry
Regular Member
This might not be the best link for context, but it should give the reader an idea of what I'm talking about, and it's immediately contextual to my thinking. I'm posting this in the Texas forum to limit the topic to existing Texas law. It might be worth discussing in more general forums later.
I'm considering the establishment of statutory Witness Credibility standards, whereby testimony from law enforcement is statutorily mandated not to be considered more credible than other testimony by juries. That is, there would be explicit instruction mandatorily given to juries within the state of Texas that they must not consider testimony by law enforcement to be any more or less credible than testimony by any other witness. I think this should follow from common sense, but I realize that there are plenty of people who blindly assume that cops and other law enforcement folk are fundamentally more credible, so here are a few simple points:
I'm considering the establishment of statutory Witness Credibility standards, whereby testimony from law enforcement is statutorily mandated not to be considered more credible than other testimony by juries. That is, there would be explicit instruction mandatorily given to juries within the state of Texas that they must not consider testimony by law enforcement to be any more or less credible than testimony by any other witness. I think this should follow from common sense, but I realize that there are plenty of people who blindly assume that cops and other law enforcement folk are fundamentally more credible, so here are a few simple points:
- Law enforcement folk take no form of test that can credibly be considered to demonstrate their trustworthiness, veracity, integrity, what have you
- There is no credible study that suggests that law enforcement evince a higher standard of credibility in general behavior, let alone on the witness stand
- Law enforcement folk are exactly as human as anyone else
- Every adult has experienced, in their professional lives, coworkers and/or colleagues who fail to uphold rigorous standards of integrity
- There is no rational justification for supposing that being in the law enforcement industry fundamentally imbues a person with greater integrity than the common person holds