On the nature of Criminal Justice in America:

The real problem is not with the laws but with our justice system. It is not what it appears to the outsider looking in. In fact many on the inside may not be aware of all the deals that are constantly being made. Many news pundits blame judges but this really misses the point. Let me give you an example of how 90% of the cases are handled and why.

Who are the players?

·        Judge (The editor of the story)
·        Police, Detective, etc. (prosecutor)
·        District Attorney (prosecutor)
·        The Plaintiff (prosecutor)
·        The Accused (defense)
·        The Accused attorney (defense)
·        The Jury if there is one (the ones in the dark listening to a story that is usually heavily edited by the judge)

What are their motives?

·        Judge – wants to clear his docket and get on to the next case. Has a god complex
·        Police…want a conviction but not willing to do all the real work necessary to prove up the evidence.
·        DA: Wants to fluff his resume and run for office again with a 95%+ conviction rate
·        Accused: Terrified and willing to make a deal

Given the above motives, this is what happens in 90% of all criminal cases: Plea Bargain. A plea bargain is where the accused pleas to a lesser crime for lesser time if he will agree to plead guilty. This is usually a lie because the plea may be for some crime that was not even committed.

What does everyone get out of this grand deception aka lie?

·        Judge: Gets a conviction and gets one more case off his docket
·        Police: don’t have to spend a lot of time investigating
·        DA: gets a conviction which makes his resume look good
·        Accused: may or may not be guilty. No one cares except him or her but he gets a lesser penalty and a lesser charge so he is relieved and may wonder if he did the right thing if innocent.
·        The Defense attorney gets paid and on to his next case. Can show his value by getting the crime/sentence reduced.

The cake is baked and everybody is happy!

This lie is sealed when the judge asks the accused if he was given any enticement for pleading guilty. The accused swears in court that he was not. All the players in this charade know this is a lie, but this is the real world. This is not CSI, or any other made for TV hoax on the gullible American public.

So…where is justice in all this? No one cares. Sorry.

If the accused was guilty, then he gets off with a lesser charge. If the accused was innocent then an innocent person was coerced into pleading guilty. Truth and justice have no play here.

Part 2:

If you care to explore a bit deeper here are some more considerations.

1) There is little to no consideration for finding the truth or for providing justice. This system runs on the participant’s resumes, ascendancy, money and politics. Truth, justice and the American way have no room here.

Most of the accused have little to no money and thus are totally at the mercy of the judge, DA, police and his own defense attorney Just to get a decent attorney interested you must have $10,000 in cash laying around that you don’t need. After the $10K is spent the bills usually accelerate and the judge, DA and everyone else is fully aware of your ability to fight. If they sense weakness then all bets are off and you become the cause of their effect and everyone knows this.

What this means is that our justice system is generally up for sale and you can get the amount of justice you can afford.

2) One of the great powers of the judge is the ability to edit the story. As most people know, if you can determine what is told and what is left out you can make a story say almost anything. So the Judge is the storyteller here for the jury. The jury is clueless and usually has no idea that they have been denied all the facts to make a good judgment.

3) Politics also come into play here. If the accused or the plaintiff has friendly, financial or political connections with important people, this will determine how the story is edited.

3) Polygraph tests: Polygraphs are extremely accurate if you ask most people in the polygraph industry but are at best 70% accurate according to research I’ve seen. Polygraphs are also very easy to beat if you do a little research prior to taking a test. Polygraphs are not admissible in court simply because they are NOT accurate– but are routinely used to coerce a confession or used as leverage under the false promise that the accused (person of interest) will not face indictment. This is a ruse to gain more true or false incriminating information that will ultimately lead to a conviction. The person and company doing the polygraph are usually under contract with the county which represents: the Judge, the DA, the Sheriff, Police, etc.  The polygraph company is at risk of losing this contract if they don’t please their pay masters and so it is never a good idea to take a polygraph provided by the prosecution.

4) If you are innocent, never talk to the police and never give any information to anyone without competent legal representation. The reason for this is that the prevailing motive of the justice system is to convict and close cases. You will be under great pressure and feel obligated to absolve your self and prove your innocence but if you violate this fundamental rule, you will be very sorry. You don’t want to become another statistic on their resume. Always be pleasant and respectful and just explain that you want to protect your rights and you therefore require an attorney.

I have mixed thoughts about the ACLU because I disagree with most of what they do. However, with the deck stacked against anyone who finds themselves caught up on this assembly line of easy and convenient convictions it is nice to see the ACLU protecting the rights of those who don’t have the financial means to put up a just defense.

If you have ever observed what happens to a weak chicken who has been pecked to death in a chicken coup you will get a good idea what the accused face here in the USA if you don’t have the financial means to hire and pay for a good attorney, not to mention the deposition and court costs.

This, my friends is the current state of our fine justice system here in the good old USA. So, the next time you see someone do a perp-walk in an orange jump suit, just realize that most of these poor slobs had a court appointed attorney and were used to fluff several resumes.

For additional reading on this topic please see Paul Craig Roberts’ excellent book entitled ‘The Tyranny of Good Intentions’.