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What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? That the guilty go free? That the innocent are wrongly convicted? That guilty people ar

What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? That the guilty go free? That the innocent are wrongly convicted? That guilty people are not prosecuted? That justices are corrupt? And approximately how many people have this view? I'm getting kind of tired of this rhetoric on how the US is so bad/corrupt/untrustable/whatever the word is today. We have some of the best courts in the history of the world. How would you like to get tried in Chinese, Russian, African, or South American court? Or be tried in the middle ages? Are they perfect? No. Will there be miscarriages of justice? Yes. Are you likely to experience one? No. And if you think it's that bad, well, there are plenty of other countries you could move to and find out if they are better. Or you could work to improve the system we do have (after studying it enough to understand it well enough to actually improve and not just change it).

lovich 9y ago
Just because other places are worse doesn't mean the US is good. The US legal system enforces the law, not justice. It does a lot of work to make it more equitable but it's still obvious that if you have money you live by a different set of rules. The majority of the population couldn't pull off what the affluenza teen did, beat up their girlfriend publicly like Chris Brown with little to no affect on their career, or rape a kid and only serve 60 to 120 days in jail[1]. Every one of these instances of injustice degrade people's trust in the system If I was an average person I'd rather be tried in the US, but if I was rich it seems like it doesn't matter. Our legal system seems pretty equivalent in outcome for the upper class. You only get more than a trivial punishment if you manage to upset someone with more money or power than you [1]http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-07/news/sns-rt-us-usa-wisconsin-billionaire-20140606_1_sexual-assault-charge-wisconsin-billionaire http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-07/news/sns-rt-us...
pixl97 9y ago
>What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? That the guilty go free? That the innocent are wrongly convicted? That guilty people are not prosecuted? That justices are corrupt? And approximately how many people have this view? Eh, in the US, probably a huge portion of the black population for sure. Me personally, working around police and elected officials for years, I don't have much trust for it either. Your whataboutism doesn't help your case. >Or you could work to improve the system we do have (after studying it enough to understand it well enough to actually improve and not just change it). Improve it for whom, and how? Not everyone is going to want it improved and they are going to fight to keep the system at is. The people for whom it would improve the most are the most disempowered and least likely to change it.
Retric 9y ago
What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? (exactly what I said) That the guilty go free? (yes, happens all the time.) That the innocent are wrongly convicted? (Yes, just look at all the death row inmates that where proven innocent. Now consider most crimes have lower standards.) That guilty people are not prosecuted? (Yes, look at banking crimes etc.) That justices are corrupt? (Mark Ciavarella is one name among many, and that's without considering politics.) And approximately how many people have this view? (~2/3 of the people I know personally.) The US is an extremely corrupt society. There are worse places, but it's the difference between standing in shit and swimming in it. You're still in shit either way. In terms of improving the system. It does what it's intended to do, which has little to do with justice. Keep the powerful out of prison, keep the middle class in line, and keep the lower classes in fear. I am not going to waste my time time to change things, but I am going to call a corrupt system exactly what it is.

lovich 9y ago

Just because other places are worse doesn't mean the US is good. The US legal system enforces the law, not justice. It does a lot of work to make it more equitable but it's still obvious that if you have money you live by a different set of rules. The majority of the population couldn't pull off what the affluenza teen did, beat up their girlfriend publicly like Chris Brown with little to no affect on their career, or rape a kid and only serve 60 to 120 days in jail[1]. Every one of these instances of injustice degrade people's trust in the system If I was an average person I'd rather be tried in the US, but if I was rich it seems like it doesn't matter. Our legal system seems pretty equivalent in outcome for the upper class. You only get more than a trivial punishment if you manage to upset someone with more money or power than you [1]http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-07/news/sns-rt-us-usa-wisconsin-billionaire-20140606_1_sexual-assault-charge-wisconsin-billionaire http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-07/news/sns-rt-us...

pixl97 9y ago

>What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? That the guilty go free? That the innocent are wrongly convicted? That guilty people are not prosecuted? That justices are corrupt? And approximately how many people have this view? Eh, in the US, probably a huge portion of the black population for sure. Me personally, working around police and elected officials for years, I don't have much trust for it either. Your whataboutism doesn't help your case. >Or you could work to improve the system we do have (after studying it enough to understand it well enough to actually improve and not just change it). Improve it for whom, and how? Not everyone is going to want it improved and they are going to fight to keep the system at is. The people for whom it would improve the most are the most disempowered and least likely to change it.

Retric 9y ago

What exactly do you mean by "people don't trust the US court system"? (exactly what I said) That the guilty go free? (yes, happens all the time.) That the innocent are wrongly convicted? (Yes, just look at all the death row inmates that where proven innocent. Now consider most crimes have lower standards.) That guilty people are not prosecuted? (Yes, look at banking crimes etc.) That justices are corrupt? (Mark Ciavarella is one name among many, and that's without considering politics.) And approximately how many people have this view? (~2/3 of the people I know personally.) The US is an extremely corrupt society. There are worse places, but it's the difference between standing in shit and swimming in it. You're still in shit either way. In terms of improving the system. It does what it's intended to do, which has little to do with justice. Keep the powerful out of prison, keep the middle class in line, and keep the lower classes in fear. I am not going to waste my time time to change things, but I am going to call a corrupt system exactly what it is.