The Injustice of the Salem Witch Trials.
The modern day justice system is in place to protect the rights of its citizens. It gives everyone the right to a fair and impartial trial. Many measures are in place to ensure that trials remain fair. The Salem Witch trials did not follow the same guidelines as the modern justice system, and were not fair to the accused. The accused witches were not given a lawyer they were forced to defend themselves. The chief magistrate of the Witch Trials was bias, which compromised the integrity of the trials. The use of spectral evidence was allowed. Also, outbursts from the crowd were allowed, and went unpunished.
Before the accused witches went to trial, they were subject to a pretrial, much like in modern justice. The pretrial stage is designed to decide if there is enough evidence to send the accused to trial. In a modern pretrial, lawyers would meet and enter evidence to a judge. Salem was completely different, it was a way to strong arm people into a confession. John Hathorne was the chief magistrate during the pretrials in Salem. He conducted these trials, by modern standards, in a very unprofessional way. He had the accused prejudged as witches, and they were guilty until proven innocent. When examining Sarah Good his questioning shows that she had already been judged guilty. "Why do you hurt these girls". That was a question Hathorne asked to Sarah Good, and all the other defendants. Hathorne doesn't ask "if she hurt the girls", he instead asks "why". The pretrial examinations were a formality, and a chance to put on a show for the people of Salem Village. The defendants did not have proper representation, and were forced to defend themselves. Hathorne was a professional, and well skilled. He used his experience in interrogating to lead the witness and force them into contradictions. Modern lawyers have strict rules to follow, in the way they question a witness.
