Salem Witch Trials

There were certain ways in which english law protected people who were accused of crimes. These didn't really get translated to the new world, because it was a new world for the colonists. They wanted to invent a new and they thought better justice system there as well. The usual checks and balances are missing. This is a very small, pressurized community administering justice on its own citizens. And ofc a mess. So what was behind this contradictory system? As ronald hutton hts writes: "If you avoided punishment, you avoided prosecution"