Star Trek: 10 Times Picard Proved The Future Was Worth Fighting For
2. The Drumhead
In every society and in every time, there has been many examples of witch hunting. People are judged and crucified in the public eye without any evidence to back up the allegations, or circumstantial evidence at best.
In the fourth season episode The Drumhead, an accident occurs on the ship that is quickly rebranded as sabotage. A young crewmember is caught up in a trial as it is discovered he lied on his application to Starfleet about his bloodline. He is part Romulan, not Vulcan, as he had claimed. As the Federation and the Romulans were enemies at the time, the accident is quickly blamed on him.
Picard must then deal with an Admiral who wields authority but is blinded by her need to hunt down the villains. He is put on trial himself, forced to defend himself for the crimes this Admiral sees all around her. He is calm. He is dispassionate. He argues that one must not be judged by their associations nor their bloodlines.
A man or a woman cannot help that they carry the genes of a current enemy and they should only be judged on their own actions. Picard wins the day as the Admiral is exposed for the xenophobe and her paranoia foils her. But the lesson exposes a sombre truth - casual fear mongering can ruin lives and that is a message that is more topical today than ever.
Picard here teaches that it is necessary to pause and consider before acting. No sentence without trial.