Justice in America?

Justice in America? Wake up! Justice implies fairness, consistency, common sense, in both making our laws and ultimately enforcing them. Do you really think that an average African American male would get the same sentence as the son of a prominent white local attorney or doctor? Do the names Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Scooter Libby, Paris Hilton, or O.J. Simpson ring any bells?

Consider this; "local gas station owner charged with price gouging", his crime he raised the price of gas at his station twice within the same 24 hour period, what about the oil companies turning world record profits? Are you catching on to who gets held accountable and punished in America? In Wisconsin the Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager personally handled a high profile murder case in which a Hmong hunter shot and killed several other hunters.

When the attorney generals office was asked to investigate a suspicious death of a seventy plus year old man because the investigation required expertise far above local capabilities, Lautenschlager's assistant suggested that the family hire an attorney at $200 an hour to determine if a crime was committed. It would appear that the life of an elderly man does not warrant their time because the lack of potential press coverage meant no personal promotion was likely.

It is truly a dark day when the murder case that gets investigated and prosecuted is based upon the potential media coverage. In the land of the Green Bay Packers, 4 police officers shot and killed a young unarmed man "because he made a motion like he had a gun". Was he going for his wallet in his front pocket, or is that just what you say after shooting an unarmed man 11 times and missing him an additional 21 times? Even a scared school girl would not shot someone 11 times just because she was scared. Justice? The officers were of course found to be justified and are back on the job carrying guns.

What do you think would happen to you or me if we shot an unarmed person 11 times (not to mention the 21 bullets fired that missed) - the prosecutor would have a field day! What about civil actions? Justice still has a price, in general it seems he who has money or the attorney with the golden tongue wins. Any legal action in this country is now so prohibitive to the average person that under taking such an action is likely to bankrupt them both financially and emotionally. This effectively makes the legal system only available to the rich. If you have a strong case (a sure win, with little chance of going to trial) you may find an attorney who will take it on a contingent fee bases (he gets a third of your settlement with less than an average of 10 hours of his time).

This explains how John Edwards got to be a multi-millionaire in such a short time practicing law (or should we say legal theft from sick & injured people). Right, wrong, does not matter, the outcome is dependent on which side is paying the better orator highly schooled in law and (justice?). Do you notice a difference starting to emerge between "law" and "justice"? Ideally these should equate to the same thing, how perverse has our country become to allow such a great divide between Law and justice. Shame on us and our elected officials! Mostly shame on us for allowing it!