Corruption In The Criminal Justice System

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It has been said that America has the best criminal justice system that money can buy. For the most part, the obvious corruption of third world banana republics, with cash exchanging hands for not guilty verdicts or the dismissal of prosecutions, is not present in the American justice system. Instead, the corruption is more subtle and far worse: the system is biased. At least a corrupt judge or prosecutor is neutral to the extent that they sell their services to highest bidder. The class biased judge or prosecutor, by contrast, is the legal equivalent of going to the casino where the odds inherently favor the house and are unlikely to change. This is not to say that rich people don't commit crimes. They do commit crimes, including violent, sex and drugs crimes, just like poor people do. The difference is that they are treated quite differently than poor people charged with, and convicted of, similar crimes. Just as it has been since the antebellum era, crimes that cross class lines (i.e., ones that rich people often commit too) will never see harsh mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Child molesting and drunk driving are two examples of this. No one will openly argue that child molesters or drunk drivers deserve a break, as opposed to the poor blacks, whites and Hispanics who possess five grams of crack and get sent to federal prison for five…show more content…
Simpson in Los Angeles for the alleged murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman. Regardless of Simpson's guilt or innocence, the trial clearly showed that class trumps race when it comes to the criminal justice system. At each step of the proceedings Simpson was able to obtain different treatment and results than he would have had he been penniless. This ranged from the obvious (the "dream team" of lawyers who represented him) to the not so obvious (the prosecution's decision not to seek the death
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