Rush to Judgment in Sonoma County

Joe.My.God. and other blogs are now reporting new details on that Sonoma County case of two elderly gay men allegedly victimized by the county and nursing homes.  According to the Sheriff's Department and news reports, domestic violence is part of the story too, and the county acted appropriately to protect the two men, and at their request.  From the local Press-Democrat:

Spaulding said the allegations of abuse is the real case. Greene, he said, attacked Scull and the county stepped in to protect the elder man at his own request. In court documents, Spaulding said Scull was admitted to Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa on April 27, 2008 as a result of domestic violence-related injuries inflicted by Greene. The case was reported to the Sheriff’s Office, adult protective services and the county’s public guardian, who all conducted investigations, he said. Scull allegedly told officials he no longer wished to live with Greene, so he was placed in a nursing home. Greene was later deemed incapable of caring for himself and was sent to a different facility, Spaulding said. The men were given a chance to remove possessions from their rented Sebastopol house, he said. What was left was sold at auction to cover their expenses, Spaulding said.

Which just goes to show how important it is for you and for me not to make snap judgments based on only one side of the story.  And there are two sides to every story in the world.

We pride ourselves on the fact that our government, our way of life, is based on the rule of law, and that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, with the facts established in open court.  We all need to keep that rule in our hearts and minds, too.

Just because you want to believe something is true doesn't make it so.  That's in fact the very definition of prejudice, right?  And it works both ways.