Musings From The Edge: A Peek At Justice
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I must apologize to anyone who may have been looking forward to my usual glimmers of wisdom last week that, unfortunately, did not appear. That is because the old Laser was doing some field research on our American Justice System. I am still trying to figure out why we call it a justice system if, presumably, we are equating the word justice with fairness. Now, this has not, by any stretch of the imagination been my first foray into this arena of the alleged presumed innocent persons confronting all the people of state who say that they are not. At least all but those twelve good tried and true people who were not bright enough to get off jury duty who supposedly think the person starts off innocent. This is one of those bullshit ideas that has been built into our current society similar to our so called American Dream that every man, woman, and child born into our society has an equal chance at succeeding at anything they choose to be. All who believe that there is some great beach property at the base of the Rocky Mountains I can get you a great deal on.
This remarkable system we have which I heard many people refer to as the greatest justice system in the world, and it may be, still leaves some few things to be desired. Take a simple example for consideration which I have heard a number of times during the past week. “The jury will disregard that last remark.” I ask you, how does one exactly disregard something regarding the issue at hand which has been spoken, heard, recorded by the brain, and then disregarded when later considering the decision on the case. An interesting question indeed. Our brains are not tape recorders and thus cannot have undesirable things simply erased or removed. So it is there, hiding, trying not to slip out of its dark recesses, but there it lingers nonetheless. Can the average human not recall that little tidbit of information as he or she ponders the facts of the case and weighs the balance of a persons life. I have serious doubts, considering the working of the human mind that this will happen. “Why am I not supposed to consider that piece of information,” one will think. It is simply the inevitable process of curiosity of the human mind. But that is just one of the oddities of our great justice system.
There is another issue that I find a bit odd in the fairness of our justice system and I will admit that I may be alone in this observation. The role of judges in the justice system is, in theory, an impartial one. The adversarial system which we utilize is one which pits the entire weight of the state against an individual accused of a crime. In such a situation there is a need for some to sit in judgment of the rules of the process without favoritism to either side. However, in most states judges are elected officials and depend upon public support to continue their tenure upon the bench. Thus, while they are constrained to a large degree by rules of evidence and case law set by courts of appeal which, again are elected offices, they exercise a great deal of discretion within their court as to how the cases will be presented. They have the power and control over how the jury will be set up for selection and which jurors will be kept and dismissed. They also control which objections will will upheld or overruled and unless they are major issues they will not make any waves on appeal. So, a big issue arises when the judges are running for election one rarely hears a candidate say they are running on a platform of fair and just treatment for all. Imagine hear a judicial candidate say, “I will ensure that anyone entering my court will receive fair and equal treatment under the law.” That would be amazing. Instead, that will point out how tough they are on crime. How they believe that criminals are supposed to be behind bars and not out on the street. Great, the prisons are over crowded, and the system is constantly setting up new programs such as drug courts, work release, restitution programs, and innovative work release programs and all the judicial candidates can talk about is filling up the prisons.
When the judges take the bench they are not representing fairness and justice and balancing it one side against the other. They are trying their best to be seen as a arm of the state to put people in prison and to cast the rules in the most favorable light of the state. There are those of you who will disagree with this position, and I understand this. Also, I do not mean this to apply to all judges since I know that there are some who genuinely try to do their job to the best of their ability but they are in the minority. The only thing I can say is that I hope you never find yourself at the mercy of this system. If you do, then my blessing go with you for you will need them and a half a million dollar lawyer.
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Gee, MH, your Dad just described the jury we got stuck with in our case. Too bad a 20 year kid’s life depends on it.
Jess, I truly understand what you mean. When people are voting for judges they rarely stop and think about the amount of power they are giving these people. Many of they are padding there own pockets, trading out sexual favors, or being used as political tools (remember the 2000 election when they put Bush in the White House).
I am all for the draconian measures Mike. I see too many slugs with money beat the system and too many poor people get screwed by it.
My dad once remarked that the only jurists that are ever chosen are ones who can’t get out of it- or aren’t excused by the other side in pre-trial questioning. This leaves virtually no “professional” white collar types, and a whole lot of stay-at-home people. If you are curious about this pool of individuals, look no further than daytime tv ads to figure out that they consist of unemployed, disability-collecting, diaper wearing, settlement-expecting retirees with no life. “In no way does the potential jury pool represent me, so I can hardly be tried by my ‘peers’ so it is an unjust system” says Dad.
As a stay-home parent, I have been called 3 times. I was nursing (babies, not patients) so able to get out of it.
The criminal justice system is way beyond broken, when judges in PA can send kids to a juvenile hall they have part ownership of. It’s a travesty when judges in IA, have challengers backed by big money coming in becuase they did not like the way a case went against them regarding marriage equality. Election/campaign funding needs to be public so that we don’t have that. If I had ANY idea how to do this, I would be Paris Hilton with brunette hair and better manners.
The criminal justice system has been broken for years, if not from the outset, and I don’t hold out much hope for improvement. It would take draconian measures to replace the current inequality with equality. Great post Bill.
A bit different over here – they get appointed not elected.
Most seem either deranged or senile or, more likely, both.
I’d be terrified of going before one of them so maybe it works then?
Personally I’m all in favour of Judge Dread…;-)
Good point there 4D. Actually I wish we had some type of appoint system here with a judicial oversight board.
The election of judges has always seemed a little bizarre to me. Fairness and impartiality running for office puts the Justices in the company of politicians, who are far from fair or impartial, but rascals and manipulators of the highest order.
The election of judges makes our judicial system as corrupt as congress, and that is really bad.
I pretty much agree with everything you said. I had an evidence professor in law school who explained the inadmissible statement in front of a jury as, “It’s like throwing a skunk into the jury box, and then asking them not to smell it.” I DO NOT TRUST JURIES. They make some weird decisions. And you are dead on right about judges. I’ve been bitching for years that they are politicians first, and impartial arbiters of justice second. Too many of them seem overly concerned with getting re-elected and not getting bad press for a courageous decision.
Thanks Lawyer. In my current case, which is a capital murder case the judge actually threatened to put a witnesses in jail if he did not stop giving “hear say” testimony, as if the witness actually knew what it was. Judges are first and foremost politicians. In the last Alabama Supreme Court race one candidate spent over two million dollars running for that seat. Who says justice can’t be bought?