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The People v. Justice

You’ll never hear me utter a harsh word against cops – I think I’ve established that. As a point of departure, however, I will take a moment to discuss my feelings on another aspect of the American legal machine: The Defense Attorney

In years gone by, Justice wore a blindfold because she was blind. Now she wears it because she simply can’t look anymore. If the American legal system were an algebraic equation, than x = $. Evidence and Truth, Justice and Integrity do not fit into the equation. Anyone who doesn’t believe that needs to yank there heads out of their CSI: Miami and point it straight at the evening news. O.J. Simpson, I’ve got one word for you – Guilty. When I think about the mockery that was Simpson’s trial I want to climb up on top of Justice and load those scales with two big piles of dog shit. The Simpson trial was by definition a circus, complete with clowns, mimes, and rhymes. If it does not it you must acquit? Is that the measure of justice? DNA is not science fiction; it’s science fact. It’s good enough to convict felons and exonerate those wrongly accused. It’s good enough to send people to death row, and good enough to get people off of it. But it’s not good enough to get a retired football player turned actor a guilty verdict? If Robert Shapiro blows anymore smoke up my ass my cheeks are going to get cancer.

I’m not going to sit here accuse every defense attorney in the country of being a legal whore - quite frankly I don’t have that kind of time. But gone are the days of the Atticus Finch. The presence and efforts of the defense attorney ensures that the rights of the accused are not violated. But the rights of the accused are not the only rights we need to bear in mind. We need to think about the rights of the public. I’m sorry, I mean the alleged rights. Yes, I agree that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. But guilt should be based solely upon the evidence. Modern legal processes have loopholes you could drive a bus through. Getting a bad guy off the hook because of some legal loophole is not justice – it’s a cheap display of legal gymnastics.

I don’t care if the legal system is set up so lawyers can exploit the loopholes created by case law. This country was also set up so that certain segments of the population were counted as three fifths of a person. But laws that are found unjust or immoral can be, and should be, changed. The problem is it’s easier to get a Constitutional amendment than to amend any of the laws that have stemmed from them. Try to figure that out. Religion does not have the patent on morality. There are morals that transcend religion. Right and wrong are two of them. Murder is wrong. Robbery and theft are wrong. Rape is wrong. Getting a shitbag off the hook because of a legal loophole is wrong. We need to put the responsibility back onto the defense attorneys. We need to stand up and proclaim our rights. We have the right to safety, and we have the right to expert that our legal system will protect us from violent predators and hucksters. If the defense had any concept of right and wrong, than they would try a case on its merits, not on their own. But far too many of them do not, and their morals are defined by their percentage.

Justice may be blind, but it has a face. Unfortunately, it’s on a stack of bills.

Michael Farmer / TheTanker.Com E-Mail readermail@TheTanker.Com

"HEADSHOT" Featuring John Bertetto