Last Wednesday night I attended a Rose Cafe given by Judge Scott Miller. A particular topic of fascination for the students in the room was how Judge Miller had felt defending the “guilty” during his criminal defense attorney days. His response basically came down to saying that regardless of whether they had actually committed the crime they were accused of, they could not be punished for it unless they were found guilty through evidence that permitted the state to punish them. So rather than punishing someone for committing a crime, we are punishing people if we can prove that they committed the crime. Regardless of whether the person in question has privately admitted to guilt, they are only subject to state punishment if it can be proven.
It makes sense, in a way, considering the burden of proof is on the accuser, not the accused, but it’s still odd to think that objectively guilty people can escape punishment because there is no proof. If you are their attorney and you know for a fact that they committed the crime, they have admitted their guilt to you, then it is really in your hands on whether or not they will be punished for it. I don’t really know what the right answer is here, but these are the thoughts and questions that came to my mind after our Rose Cafe.
An Ivy Garden
Last Saturday was a trip to Cornell’s lovely botanical gardens, located outside of the campus. The walk there was already an experience since I didn’t recognize any of the campus on the walk towards to the garden or that the garden even existed. Once we arrived there, we took a tour and saw some of the plants Cornell was preserving. I even learnt that we were allowed to take some flowers and vegetables if the plant had several on them. It seems to be a great place to both study and relax in as there are very little people and it’s a very large space. The part we went to wasn’t even the entire thing as it was actually just a smaller part, with the larger part being across the road. Overall, the trip was fun and informative about our botanical gardens and the plants we currently had.
Apple Trip
During this trip, we ventured out into college town to experience the annual Ithaca Apple Festival. I lived near the city so I never had a chance to experience something like Apple Festival so it was exciting for me to have the chance to experience one. On the way there, I saw several shops such as a flower shop, comic shop and even a tea shop on the way. At Apple Fest, I met up with friends from the scholars program and some of my classmates in order to taste some of the foods that they were selling there at Apple Fest. I had an Apple Pie and an Apple Smoothie which were both delicious to eat and drink. The musicians that were playing were also magnificent and I even managed to meet one of them once I left apple fest. When I was leaving, I went to the shops on the way and brought a plant and a few antique books. Overall, the trip to Apple Fest was fun and exciting.