10 Responses to “Searching for the Soul of America’s Criminal Justice System”

1. #1 |  Dave Krueger |  May 24th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

   The American criminal justice system is about numbers the same way the Vietnam war was about numbers. All that matter is the body count.

      +7
2. #2 |  J sub D |  May 24th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

   I have no moral objections to the death penalty. Some people deserve to die for their crimes.

   I harbor extreme doubts about our (or any other) government to get it right. Until lying cops, evidence withholding prosecutors, incompetent public defenders and jurors too stupid to wipe their own bottoms are removed from the system, I’m going to have to oppose the death penalty in all cases.

   IOW, forever.

      +11
3. #3 |  chance |  May 24th, 2009 at 1:47 pm

   I pretty much feel the same way as #2.

   It’s funny, whenever the debate come up at work, people are quick to point out that in cases where the evidence is conclusive, there should be swift execution. Of course, this blog has shown repeatedly that the evidence is rarely as conclusive as you would think. After the many examples here, if I was a juror and the prosecution had 10 witnesses, a confession, and videotape of the crime, I still would be skeptical.

      +3
4. #4 |  Highway |  May 24th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

   Well said, J sub D. I think there are plenty of people who give up any claim to be living breathing beings when they commit heinous crimes. Unfortunately, the correlation between those people and the people that the state puts to death is tenuous at best. Given this, I cannot support the death penalty as an outcome of any so-far-devised human justice system.

      +3
5. #5 |  AL |  May 24th, 2009 at 6:47 pm

   I’ve had the same discussion. I used to support the death penalty until I heard about the innocence project. The Whitey Bulger story about the FBI framing innocent men to protect the gangsters who were using the FBI was a shock.

   Knowing now that the government really does frame people and will put innocent people to death for reasons of incompetence or ambition brings me to the conclusion that we cannot trust the government with the lives of our citizens.

      +5
6. #6 |  ktc2 |  May 24th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

   We do NOT have a justice system. We have a legal system. Any resemblence to a justice system is purely coincidental and definitely unintended.

      +13
7. #7 |  Lorraine Sumrall |  May 25th, 2009 at 8:42 am

   ktc2 is correct. A justice system is definitely something we do not have in this country. The cards are heavily stacked against the defendant, the state has crushing power, and
   prosecutors readily withhold evidence so they can more easily attain their only goal: conviction. There is no way in hell this kind of a system can take on the responsibility of executions.

      +4
8. #8 |  pam |  May 25th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

   In Mississippi, what I’ve seen is the State lying, cheating and stealing to win. And alot of very bad public defenders. A broken system. Systemic problems. This state has the 3rd highest incarceration rate in the country. Is there something in the water? Genetic perhaps? Is it the crawfish? What? Is Dr. Hayne working for the State for 25 years? So what is wrong with Mississippi?

      +3
9. #9 |  pam |  May 25th, 2009 at 6:10 pm

   I know it’s about Georgia, but I’m stuck in Mississippi.

      +3
10. #10 |  fwb |  May 26th, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    The government gets whomever it wants whenever it wants.

    Great points by all the posters about the topic.

    Cops lie and get off. Prosecutors flaunt the law and stay in power.

    We the People are too fecking dumb and too fecking scared.

    Soon it will be time to retake control.

    “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam”

       +1

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