America is the ultimate "transactional democracy." A look at its "bought and paid for" Congress, the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson or ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, shows that democracy is a commodity in the states.
But what about the country's judiciary, that other branch of government? John Oliver ripped that apart on Last Week Tonight:
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Remember this the next time you hear some rightwing yahoo rant about how we need to elect judges in Canada.
Where does one start to reform the court system in the USA? Throw out the bums who create the lousy laws, which in turn are purposely misinterpreted by prosecutors, who may deign (but usually do not) to bring the case before an elected judge, whose career hinges on the balance of their decision, which is usually in favor of a guilty verdict? Let's not even mention law enforcement. And the prison system is broken, too. It may as well be a new slavery.
ReplyDeleteIt almost seems too broken.It needs to be reformed from top to bottom.
Ah, minor addition to my comment. "are purposely misinterpreted by prosecutors, who may deign (but usually do not instead preferring to railroad defendants into unfair plea deals)"
ReplyDeleteI agree, Troy. The system is too broken to be reformed. It's coming apart at the seams but that hardly matters in a place that's so detached from reality.
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