bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) (05/27/86)
In article <529@Shasta.ARPA> stevens@Shasta.UUCP (Gregory W. Stevens) writes: >The really interesting thing is that in a society where most aspects of ones >lifestyle - [...] - are related to the amount of ones wealth, that >some should be dismayed or shocked in realization that the system of justice >operates the same way. The problem is, *it doesn't*. Having more money allows you to purchase the services of a more highly rated attorney, as opposed to relying on an overworked public defender. It buys you a better chance at acquittal, that's all. The reason that many of us get shocked is that we were taught, from grade- school on, that the system is fair and equitable, we are presumed innocent until found guilty, and other propagandistic fictions. We were taught that these were an absolute requirement for a fair, free, society, "such as the one we live in"; that without those constitutional guarantees of our freedom we might as well be living in the Soviet Union or Hitler's Germany. How do you expect us to react when we see judges selecting which evidence gets presented to the jury, when we see judges deliberately misinforming juries as to their duties, and when the courts set themselves above the law, totally immune to any wrongdoings issuing from the bench? How do you expect us to react when we see that the constitution, which we were taught is the safeguard of our freedom, the embodiment of concepts that many preceding generations of our families fought (and died) to defend, is in reality nothing more than a pretty piece of prose? It's not a matter of money buying justice. Money can buy acquittal, but it can _never_ buy justice. This error (made by several posters recently) is just another symptom of how bad things really are.