Presumption of Guilt analyses criminal prosecutions that spawned the notorious “kids for cash” scandal. Although a juvenile judge freely admitted committing fraud in failing to properly account for millions of dollars, prosecutors insisted he had accepted that money in exchange for jailing juveniles. These heinous allegations were presumed to be true, resulting in widespread hysteria. Incredibly, after creating the scandal, prosecutors failed to produce evidence it had ever happened at the judge’s trial. Unfortunately for the judge, by that time “kids for cash” was so ingrained in the public’s conscience that the lack of its proof was meaningless.
