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The Criminal Injustice System
first published- May 30, 1997
While I definitely support the "rule of law," I have a lot of problems with the criminal "justice" system.
One of the reasons I support the dissolution of many of government's current dys-functions is so that more energy can be concentrated on the services it should be providing- namely, U.S. defense, the courts and dispute resolution, "criminal justice" and the protection of Constitutional rights.
Currently "law enforcement and general government" consumes only 2% of our hard-earned tax money. Pardon me for saying, but 30 Billion dollars is chump change to be spending on justice and "general government."
Go to a small-town courthouse (it'll be the building that looks like an old school building), and go to the bathroom (it'll be in the basement, probably), and you'll see what I mean.
Speaking from a long history of direct experience with our criminal injustice system, I can say that it, like most of our current government, is nearly useless.
Excepting the lawyers, I'd dare say I've had more "days in court" than most people. Regardless of my personal interests in each situation, I can tell you that the system works like crap, and everybody involved knows it. It's really quite sad, when you think about it, because that 2% of our budget is the only part (besides the military) of our government that actually exerts direct force on people. Enforcement and prosecution are randomly selective, and circumstance, mood, money, class, timing, budget, etc. play a much greater part in determining whose life gets stolen from them than "justice" does.
The strangest part is that our criminal justice system is supposed to be the objective part of our system. And yet, as a private citizen in court, ingenuity, luck, money, and determination are all required to succeed. And even then it's a toss of the dice.
Try defending yourself in a trial. What a hoot.
Yours in Liberty,
Lance Brown