I have to rant, but also stir up some awareness. This could be a gun rights case or any other case, but this morning, I'm watching Fox News following a case of Violation Of Privacy and the comment was made that "one of the accused plead the 5th. What is he hiding?".

Another case - "The accused is not cooperating with police and is seeking legal representation".

Both of these comments made by the Fox News Anchor. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are innocent until proven guilty by a jury of our peers, not by the police or Fox News. I have many friends in law enforcement and I love Fox News, but neither have the right to make such comments and in my opinion, they place a cloud of blame over the accused and create a defamation of character. Even the most evil American Citizen has rights. I've read many articles on "Police Cooperation". You cannot legally be accused of not cooperating with police because you've asked for an attorney. You also cannot be legally accused of hiding something if you plead the 5th amendment. These rights go right along with the 2nd Amendment. You cannot legally be accused of being a criminal because you chose to bear arms (in most cases). We fight to keep our right to bear arms and we need to fight to keep all of our Constitutional Guarantees.

In short, this post is not a statement against the police or the courts, but regardless of the circumstances, we must not judge or place a cloud of speculation against our fellow citizens because they choose to exercise their constitutional rights and should we do so, I think myself or anyone else should be held liable for doing so as we are hurting that person's chance to a fair and impartial trial. A coworker tells me that my gripes go against the 1st Amendment because the News Anchors have the right to Freedom of Speech. I disagree. We have no right to accuse another of hiding something for using the 5th or being called uncooperative for hiring an attorney.