The American Justice System
Is this a great country or what?
I was reading a post over on That Girl’s site and something she said made me think. First, I would like to thank TG because she always seems to come up with something that makes me extend my mental boundaries. Thanks TG – you are the best.
She wrote this in the middle of her post:
“Why am I going in with a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ mindset? Even the judicial system doesn't do that. Everyone is innocent first, right?”
When I read this I chuckled. It told me that TG has never actually spent any time in the machine that is the American Legal System. Good for you TG…I pray that none of you ever get to experience the hell that is being an innocent person being run over by the justice system in this country. We may have the best justice system in the world, but please don’t believe the hype.
Anyone who has ever been arrested and charged with a crime in this country would attest that the “innocent until proven guilty” motto that we have shoved down our throats is a crock of shit. Now I am not talking about being arrested for having too many outstanding parking tickets or for a DUI. That is the cookie cutter, turn key justice system. When you are arrested for a DUI, in my state at least, the process is laid out for you. You don’t even need a lawyer.
Get arrested for something serious, like five felony accounts of embezzlement, and you will get to experience the real American Justice System. This happened to me and I can tell you I was not treated like I was innocent until proven guilty. I was treated as though I was GUILTY.
Now I was completely innocent of these charges. After I found out what was happening and how I was involved, I felt guilty. But it was more like Catholic guilt than courtroom guilt.
I am not going to go into all the details of this case, but suffice to say I had no idea what the guilty people were doing. The D.A. had documentation that made it look like I took about 2% of the money embezzled – that is all. Did they come to me and ask for an explanation? No. Did they contact me at all? No. Did they arrest me and four others and charge us with five felonies plus a bunch of other charges? Yes.
I had to get a lawyer. I paid him over $10,000 in the year it took for me to settle my portion of this case. In that time I can tell you that the police that arrested me treated me like I was guilty. The judge treated me like I was guilty. The D.A. treated me like I was guilty. At no time did I feel like I was treated as an innocent person.
When you are arrested, they don’t give you a sign to wear stating “first arrest, might be innocent” to separate you from the people wearing the “rap sheet as long as my arm” signs so that the police know who to treat like an innocent person while incarcerated. It is probably a good thing they don’t do this as it might make the stay in jail a much more memorable occasion. Instead you are all treated the same – as people who have committed crimes.
Even after I took a lie detector test – and passed – the D.A. refused to drop the charges against me. He actually told my lawyer that he was pretty sure I was innocent, but if he released me, then it would weaken his case against the others. Can you believe that…he knew I was innocent, but decided he needed to prolong my personal hell. That is the American justice system. If you don’t believe it, watch a few episodes of Law and Order. You will inevitably see an episode where the D.A. says to arrest them all we will sort out the innocent one’s later.
There IS one time in the entire process that the “innocent until proven guilty” proverb is true. When you are actually on trial. I think it works there, because the 12 peers that are judging you are more likely to start out with the idea that you are innocent. They have not been jaded by years of dealing with the truly guilty. Besides, in the courtroom, the D.A. has to prove you are guilty. Up until that point, no proof is required.
What I saw during my up close, year long experience with our justice system was a lot of people working in a system that breeds cynicism. The police, lawyers, judges, probation officers and all the other people who work in the American justice system spend so much time around real guilty criminals that they automatically assume everyone arrested is guilty – which is probably true for more than 90% of them. They are very jaded and cynical and tend to believe the worst of people and not the best. This is completely understandable, but understanding the reason behind their cynicism sure doesn’t help if you are getting pummeled by the system.
Now some of you might wonder how this all ended for me. After a year of postponements and delays, while the D.A. tried to build a case, I was tired of paying a lawyer and living through this nightmare. I was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor and was released. My record was later expunged. By law I can tell people that I have never been arrested or convicted of a crime. However, when a background check is done, this arrest sometimes appears. It states I was never convicted, but the arrest for five felonies shows up. This requires me to disclose this whole story to every potential employer. I have a standard letter I give with every employment application, just in case. So this hell stays with me forever.
As for the rest of the charged parties, the court case was settled over a year after I pleaded out. Of the four remaining people, only one was convicted of anything. The rest were released. The sad thing is that the one person, who was convicted, confessed before the entire process began. This whole nightmare should never have happened.
I was reading a post over on That Girl’s site and something she said made me think. First, I would like to thank TG because she always seems to come up with something that makes me extend my mental boundaries. Thanks TG – you are the best.
She wrote this in the middle of her post:
“Why am I going in with a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ mindset? Even the judicial system doesn't do that. Everyone is innocent first, right?”
When I read this I chuckled. It told me that TG has never actually spent any time in the machine that is the American Legal System. Good for you TG…I pray that none of you ever get to experience the hell that is being an innocent person being run over by the justice system in this country. We may have the best justice system in the world, but please don’t believe the hype.
Anyone who has ever been arrested and charged with a crime in this country would attest that the “innocent until proven guilty” motto that we have shoved down our throats is a crock of shit. Now I am not talking about being arrested for having too many outstanding parking tickets or for a DUI. That is the cookie cutter, turn key justice system. When you are arrested for a DUI, in my state at least, the process is laid out for you. You don’t even need a lawyer.
Get arrested for something serious, like five felony accounts of embezzlement, and you will get to experience the real American Justice System. This happened to me and I can tell you I was not treated like I was innocent until proven guilty. I was treated as though I was GUILTY.
Now I was completely innocent of these charges. After I found out what was happening and how I was involved, I felt guilty. But it was more like Catholic guilt than courtroom guilt.
I am not going to go into all the details of this case, but suffice to say I had no idea what the guilty people were doing. The D.A. had documentation that made it look like I took about 2% of the money embezzled – that is all. Did they come to me and ask for an explanation? No. Did they contact me at all? No. Did they arrest me and four others and charge us with five felonies plus a bunch of other charges? Yes.
I had to get a lawyer. I paid him over $10,000 in the year it took for me to settle my portion of this case. In that time I can tell you that the police that arrested me treated me like I was guilty. The judge treated me like I was guilty. The D.A. treated me like I was guilty. At no time did I feel like I was treated as an innocent person.
When you are arrested, they don’t give you a sign to wear stating “first arrest, might be innocent” to separate you from the people wearing the “rap sheet as long as my arm” signs so that the police know who to treat like an innocent person while incarcerated. It is probably a good thing they don’t do this as it might make the stay in jail a much more memorable occasion. Instead you are all treated the same – as people who have committed crimes.
Even after I took a lie detector test – and passed – the D.A. refused to drop the charges against me. He actually told my lawyer that he was pretty sure I was innocent, but if he released me, then it would weaken his case against the others. Can you believe that…he knew I was innocent, but decided he needed to prolong my personal hell. That is the American justice system. If you don’t believe it, watch a few episodes of Law and Order. You will inevitably see an episode where the D.A. says to arrest them all we will sort out the innocent one’s later.
There IS one time in the entire process that the “innocent until proven guilty” proverb is true. When you are actually on trial. I think it works there, because the 12 peers that are judging you are more likely to start out with the idea that you are innocent. They have not been jaded by years of dealing with the truly guilty. Besides, in the courtroom, the D.A. has to prove you are guilty. Up until that point, no proof is required.
What I saw during my up close, year long experience with our justice system was a lot of people working in a system that breeds cynicism. The police, lawyers, judges, probation officers and all the other people who work in the American justice system spend so much time around real guilty criminals that they automatically assume everyone arrested is guilty – which is probably true for more than 90% of them. They are very jaded and cynical and tend to believe the worst of people and not the best. This is completely understandable, but understanding the reason behind their cynicism sure doesn’t help if you are getting pummeled by the system.
Now some of you might wonder how this all ended for me. After a year of postponements and delays, while the D.A. tried to build a case, I was tired of paying a lawyer and living through this nightmare. I was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor and was released. My record was later expunged. By law I can tell people that I have never been arrested or convicted of a crime. However, when a background check is done, this arrest sometimes appears. It states I was never convicted, but the arrest for five felonies shows up. This requires me to disclose this whole story to every potential employer. I have a standard letter I give with every employment application, just in case. So this hell stays with me forever.
As for the rest of the charged parties, the court case was settled over a year after I pleaded out. Of the four remaining people, only one was convicted of anything. The rest were released. The sad thing is that the one person, who was convicted, confessed before the entire process began. This whole nightmare should never have happened.
posted by Blue944 at 7:00 AM
The great thing about living in America is that we are all entitled to publish our opinions on anything. These are my opinions on a number of subjects. I appreciate that some of you will not agree with me, I just don't care.
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