Media: Aiding or destroying the investigation?: The forgotten rights of the accused: A study to support House Bill no. 324, An Act Prohibiting the Presentation to the Press or Public of Suspects in Criminal Investigations before Cases are Formally Filed against the Suspects

A person accused is not the same as a person who is guilty and convicted. This person may be innocent. But why does it seem, when we watch our televisions, read newspapers, and listen to our radios, that he is already the criminal?The constitutional right of the accused to be presumed innocent are oftentimes violated, but the violators are never punished. There exist no equal protection between the media and the accused. Still, the media are the number one violators of this right. They give out prejudicial publications which are of no factual basis and are from raw, unconfirmed information.It is true that the media represents the people. They have great power over the public, and they use this to indirectly manipulate the judiciary system and the authorities. They have the confidence to empower because they know that no punishment awaits.The deprivation of this right to the accused does not only affect him. This affects everybody: his personal life, family and friends. Even all the people surrounding him, people who sees him with judging eyes, knowing that he has been accused of a crime. This causes anxiety and damage to the whole being of the accused. In the first place, being accused already corrodes the dignity of a person, what more it does if the accusation gets published nationwide. Worst, although no admission was possible to be used as a reference to this statement, the media affects the decision of the judge.Therefore, this research aims to support House Bill No. 324, An act Prohibiting the Presentation to the Press or Public of Suspects in Criminal Investigations before Cases are Formally Filed against the Suspects, that deals with the illegal acts of the media and limits their access to such information that can cause a lifetime of suffering on the part of the accused