You have pointed out a weakness, but it seems in this case that it is working. The judiciary, legislative, and executive branches of govt., as well as the othe

You have pointed out a weakness, but it seems in this case that it is working. The judiciary, legislative, and executive branches of govt., as well as the other independent institutions of civil society, such as academia and the press, all must be strongly independent of each other for a democracy to survive. In an autocracy, all of the institutions are coerced to bend to the will of the executive. In this case, the executive (governor) made it very clear that he wanted this journalist prosecuted, a blatant attempt to bend the press to his will. In this case, it wasn't even the judiciary, but the prosecution, which is still in the executive branch, so nominally under the governor, who basically told the gov to go pound sand. So, whenever you see executives undermining the independence of other branches or institutions, be VERY suspicious; it's a dead giveaway that they are interested in only their own power and not working to benefit the citizens they serve.