The Republicans are in the pocket of the rich and ruthless police and prison industry complex.

That leaves almost no one in power in America defending justice.

I don’t need to read a book when I can see authoritarianism in action every day by simply watching the collusion of the Democrat and Republican leadership.

The constitutional ideal is to achieve objective justice. Reality dictates that I work with that ideal since tearing down the system is unrealistic and a cop-out.

While loud mouthed authoritarians may agree that the criminal justice system is not a problem saner voices are starting to be heard. Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has authored S-714 to establish a national criminal justice commission to evaluate the efficacy of a system that results in the world record prison population in the land of the free.

Numerous criminal justice and human rights reports each year attest to the failed American criminal justice system.

#26 Pat

Most everyone agrees that the American criminal justice system is broken and that there is plenty wrong with it. Particularly the imbalance in favor of the prosecution in both the courts and legislatures that has given America a world record prison population.

Actually, I don’t know that most people would agree that the criminal justice system is broken, but if so, I don’t think they would acknowledge an imbalance in favor of the prosecution. I think the more popular public opinion is that the justice system grants too many rights to the accused and not enough to the victims.

Of course, there’s the chicken and egg question. Is the justice system simply a reflection of the attitude of the public or is the public attitude a reflection of rhetoric coming from the justice system? I tend to think they kind of feed each other which doesn’t bode well for any hopes of improvement in the near term.

Not that they’d who know WhoTF Marat was. That would involve reading and thinking and the American right gave that up a long, long, long time ago.

In it you will discover that there is no such thing as objective law. Laws are not self-interpreting, they require interpretation by human beings who always carry idiosyncratic subjective viewpoints.

The result is a system that Dave Krueger has described, one where only a certain type of individual rises to a position of power, shaped by the system and its primary need of self-preservation, which trumps all other considerations.

Reforming the current force-based system is hopeless. Substantial change can only come through abolition of this system and the founding of a new system based on cooperation, not force.

Most everyone agrees that the American criminal justice system is broken and that there is plenty wrong with it. Particularly the imbalance in favor of the prosecution in both the courts and legislatures that has given America a world record prison population.

Any objective jurists should be able to find plenty wrong with this system. Sotomayor sided with the prosecution 92% of the time. A clear bias for her career friends, the prosecution. When any jurist finds so consistently for their prejudices and identity group they are using the law to impose the will of their group. This is not justice. This is no longer the rule of law.

listening to her is almost painfull.

what an embarrassisng legacy for the Obama administration.

Yeah. I know, man.

Here’s where the normal law and order crowd, who’s been cheering up to now, will break ranks:

I believe that criminals in uniform or who have a title like “DA” should be treated the “toughest”, if you will. See, law and order *starts* with non-corrupt law enforcement and prosecution. If those elements are criminal, there is no law and order.

I don’t believe that Democrats are good for anything.

Earlier commenters hit it exactly right: pro-government means pro-authority, essentially by definition, whether seen in the D’s or R’s.

Since Democrats are the most pro-government, it is folly (and I believe has been one of Radley’s misconceptions) to believe they will allow the messy business of civil liberties to get in the way of expanding the power and reach of the state.