Welcome to Jeopardy, the American Justice System version
I’ll take Startling Numbers for $100, Alex.
60%.
What are the percentage of Americans who support the death penalty AND believe the Trump indictments are politically motivated? (https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-indictment-poll-rcna78490 and https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/02/most-americans-favor-the-death-penalty-despite-concerns-about-its-administration/)
Correct!
I’ll take Startling Numbers for $200 Alex.
80%
What is the percentage of Americans who think there is some risk of an innocent person being executed?
Correct!
So we are a country where a majority of people believe the administration of justice is corrupt and rife with politics, yet will risk killing a few innocent people to keep the death penalty on the books.
And they believe this despite the previous administration being unable to “persuade” his Attorney General to indict any political foes, or their children. And the myriad of convictions in death penalty cases reversed after the appellate process.
A definition of contradiction could not have a better illustration.
I encourage you to read the poll questions. There are some elements in the details that are even more startling. But a majority believe Trump committed crimes. And most believe they should prosecute him. But they are so jaundiced by anecdotal examples of political interference in the criminal justice system, they will accept this false reality of overarching political control by the White House.
They further demonstrate a contradiction of beliefs that is truly daunting, a willingness to risk the execution of a person who is innocent of the crime in order to preserve the death penalty.
Even at it’s worse, when an indisputably corrupt President held office, i.e. Richard Nixon, those political appointees in the Justice Department did the right thing. And, in a subsequent administration, when politicians sought indictments for purely political reasons, a similarly appointed Attorney General, Bill Barr and his staff resisted.
They did not “Lock her up.” They investigated, found no evidence of any crimes, and dropped the case.
The Justice department is fallible. It is not immune from outside influence, but to believe it caters to the whims of the person occupying the White House is nonsense. Even if some Presidents would wish it so.
Local justice systems may be a bit more susceptible, but even they have built-in safeguards. But errors of judgments happen. Some trial justices, jurors, and prosecutors let their innate prejudices against some defendants sway their judgments.
And thus the risk of an innocent person being executed. That is not America.
I’ll take American Jurisprudence for $1000, Alex.
Everyone was once Equal Under the Law.
What is, when did America lose its way?
The Viet Nam war is when America broke with itself. Cracks and fault lines existed before such as lingering doubt about assignation of our young President , the long standing racial divide and poverty of too many Americans but when a once free press caught the politicians lying and citizens all knew the gov’t lied and soldiers were dying to pay the price, we lost something we may never get back.
Now whether it be UFO’s somehow changed to UAF’s, manipulation of voting records, mismanagement of soc sec, equal Justice, the support or rejection of the existence of a deity, climate change, trust in the FBI, or Justice dep’t it doesn’t matter because political leaders and their party drive and exploit the mistrust to gain or retain power by “preaching lies” and with the death of a free press, we find ourselves as pretty much professional victims being exploited and deluded as the humans are tricked to feed an alien force while sold a combination of lies creating an alternate reality or realities.
Very sad but that’s what I think and where we lost our way. Anybody who believes our gov’t is trustworthy is dopey. It may be WWIII with China, which feels so likely to me, will be strike 3, the last WW where our species destroys our world. Hope not, but that is the course we are on and either of two old dishonest white guys are competing on dueling platforms of lies to get the power to do so. It’s a ridiculous world we live in.
Hey Les,
Thanks for reading and replying. As Alexander Hamilton said, “People get the government they deserve.” But I am, by nature, an optimist. While I am often criticized for pointing out the flaws in our country and the false nostalgia of the past as imperfect, I still see America surviving. And I think identifying the problems makes us better in the long run.
Things change slowly. The true “melting pot” of inclusivity is just now beginning to influence our government and nation. The past so many wish to glorify was one that almost entirely excluded minorities, women, and others. That is changing.
While some bemoan the decline of religiosity, I see it as another step toward acceptance of our differences. Religion’s place is in the conscience of the faithful, not the public square. Every destination has more than one path.
As you point out, Vietnam was the spark that ignited much of the dissent and created a division within society. And the Watergate affair, which we all watched as young highschoolers all those years ago, was the first open sore exposing how deep corruption had permeated the nation.
But there are more good people seeking office in this country than many would believe. And I see our society acting as any other evolutionary being, some genetic changes create bad results and some offer benefits. Evolution favors those who adapt and we are just now seeing how that change is happening.
In 1974, the body politic forced the resignation of a President. In 2020, an attempt at a coup by a sitting President failed and he now faces indictment and trial. Even during the worst of the Nixon administration, the idea that we would have to indict him was abhorrent. And such resistance allowed the situation to repeat itself. As corrupt as the man was, even Nixon knew he had to resign for the good of the country. And Gerald Ford’s pardon, while controversial, in hindsight turned out to be prophetic.
No longer can a President, and perhaps a Supreme Court Justice, consider themselves inoculated from facing justice by virtue of their position.
A major step that was set in motion by a series of smaller ones and won’t soon be stopped. And a Presidential pardon is no longer necessary to save the nation, the Justice system is the way now.
Thanks again for reading and taking the time to respond.