Issue: Is Bob Filner Victim of a ‘Political Lynching’ Amid Lurid Accusations?

Are San Diegans engaged in a political lynching? That’s what Donald Harrison argues in a nearly 1,000-word essay in San Diego Jewish World.

Writing about “howls” for Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation, Harrison said in his latest commentary on the affair: “I don’t think any of these elected officials—or the other ones who also have demanded that Filner resign, based on the allegations of still unnamed victims—have given sufficient thought to the kind of precedent they are setting.”

Harrison, editor and publisher, has written a series of commentaries on the Filner Affair, saying he feels “heartsick that the Jewish mayor’s administration seems to be imploding.”

But he refuses to join the chorus calling for Filner’s head, saying of Donna Frye and others: “What if this former city councilwoman and lawyers were themselves duped? Or what if their motives are not as pure as they say they are? I am just hypothesizing here, and I give their sincerity the benefit of the doubt. But wouldn’t we all feel awful about trying to hound a guy out of office who was innocent?”

Harrison adds:

“We have constitutional safeguards to protect a defendant who everyone believes is probably guilty. We put that person on trial, and have a jury of his or her peers decide, based on evidence, who is telling the truth. For some reason, those yelling loudest for Filner to resign don’t trust that justice system. Yet they want us to trust them.”

Does Harrison have a point?  Should “innocent until proven guilty” apply to Filner?  Or should accusations of this nature compel action even before a first lawsuit is filed?  Share your thoughts in the comments.