Information Liberation – by Humphrey
A profoundly troubling study published by the University of Texas School of Law concludes that the American criminal justice system is dead in everything but name. The paper, entitled “Waiving the Criminal Justice System,” describes how the adversarial process through which the state must prove the guilt of a defendant has been supplanted with a system of administrative law in which prosecutors extract plea bargains in exchange for relatively lenient sentences. This is why federal prosecutors win more than ninety percent of their cases through plea bargains, rather than jury trials.
This is a lamentable state of affairs, and to many observers a familiar story. This study, however, breaks new ground by showing that prosecutors at both the state and federal levels require defendants to waive due process rights that are vital for post-conviction appeals – such as the right to effective assistance of counsel, and the right to obtain exculpatory evidence that can be used to overturn a conviction or at least obtain a new trial.
In the American tradition, the purpose of a trial was to establish the truth of an accusation against a defendant who is presumed to be innocent. The purpose of our post-constitutional criminal system is to ratify the defendant’s guilt, irrespective of the facts.
No i disagree, the criminal justice system is alive and well, it’s the criminals
running it!!!!!!….
The criminal ju$tice system is doing exactly what it was designed to do and that is to protect the criminals and exact tyranny on the citizens. How can anyone say it isn’t working,after all it isn’t called the criminal ju$tiice system for nothing you know. The voting system is doing what it is designed to do too,give sheep the illusion that they actually have a say in what is happening. Do you really believe they give a good GD about anything that you think?
Even with a plea bargain (or the agreement between the Prosecutor and Defendant) the Judge can use “judicial discretion” to rule any way he or she chooses, regardless of the plea bargain agreement. I’ve seen a case where the Judge disregarded the fact that there was no evidence, and accepted the hearsay testimony of a non-witness police officer’ to convict the defendant. Furthermore, in a plea bargain there can be no appeal; you are essentially at the mercy of the Judge.
The Constitution has been dead on arrival within the Justice System for well over 50-years. Nowadays, justice will be served to the highest bidder. If you don’t believe this unspoken fact, then just try to file a case in Court as a pro se plaintiff (self-represented without an attorney).
This is why I have said that the MLK and Gandhi days of civil dissent, voting politicians out of office, and winning back liberty through the Justice System, are forever gone. The 99% have all been vaguely labeled as “domestic terrorists” — perhaps we will have to eventually physically strike back if TPTB keep trying to force us through a one-way funnel with no compromise.
Remember the 1960’s riot slogan: “No justice — no peace”.
Yup