Allegedly? (Score 1)

...where 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams allegedly opened fire from a bathroom in Santana High, killing two and wounding 13.

Allegedly?

OK, I realize this is just journalistic autopilot and please-don't-sue-me-speak here, but there is something very wrong going on. I would think that if someone shoots 15 people, killing two of them, in a public place, and is then arrested by police you could be pretty much certain what actuallly happened, rather than what has been alleged to happen.

Now what does it matter what word we use? Well take a look at some of the drug laws (and soon probably other laws as well) that essentially make it a crime to be suspected of wrongdoing. I believe this is related to the blatent journalistic wording such as is present in this article. Just think about it. Charles Andrew Williams allegedly shot 15 people. Soon, someone makes a law to punish alleged school shooters. Or perhaps to punish potential criminals who are alleged players of video games. You see my point? This attitude of "they're criminals, they don't deserve any rights" has gotten well out of hand when we begin treating people as criminals who are merely alleged of commiting a crime (as compared with people like Charles Andrew Williams, who most certainly did).