Broken Justice

Broken Justice

The American justice system is broken. Once, we were considered innocent until proven guilty. Now, we are guilty until we have enough money to prove we are otherwise. If we don’t have the money, then we will not be able to hire the lawyers to get us off of whatever charges were laid down at our feet.
This is not to say that there are not actual criminals that are incarcerated within our system. There most certainly are. However, there are new technologies that are showing the flaws in the system. There are innocent people put away for violent crimes that they never committed.
For example, there is Troy Davis. This man has been locked up for over twenty years for the murder of an off duty police officer. He was put there on the word of witness testimony, seven of the nine which testified against him recanted. The Georgia “justice” system won’t listen and seeks to proceed with the execution.
That’s right. I said execution.
This man is going to be executed on little to no evidence of a crime because, “someone has to pay for the death of an officer.” It might as well be the black man we have locked away, right?
Wrong.
When a man’s life becomes a sacrifice to expedience and politics, then our justice is stained with his blood. This shame stains not just Georgia, but the entire country. The fact that his appeals have been denied and his story has only now gone viral in the alternative media (which I am coming to the conclusion is the only real source of actual news out there that is not force fed to us by the corporate oligarchy) is also a shame upon us all. Why have we not fought to get this man freed before now.
There are many innocent men and women in the prison system now. Once you are in the clutches of this for-profit institution, they never want to let you go. They get paid per prisoner, after all, so it is in their interest to keep the prisons full. Oh, and by the way, they get paid per prisoner more than what most hard working Americans make (anywhere from $13000-$45000) in one year. So, why would they care if someone who is innocent is stuck in one of their facilities?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

People, all of us, are numbers. We are all guilty of something in the eyes of the authorities. Something, somewhere has changed with the way we treat our citizens. With the Patriot Act, among other things, we can be detained without cause, without representation, and without bail indefinitely.
Now, we can be executed without proof, because “someone” has to pay.
What happens if we were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or, if we have one of “those” faces? You know the ones that I am talking about; the ones where you are mistaken for someone else constantly. Well, if someone who looks like you committed a crime, then you might get tagged for it, because someone saw you there. Sometimes the better types of technology are ignored when it comes to trying to establish the truth of what is going on. This is not unusual.
The American “Justice” system is broken. There is no justice for anyone, and the only people who are happy are the people getting paid. Those who feel “safe” are living a lie. They can be targeted by the flawed system at any time, whether they did anything or not. Hell, they could have just been wielding sidewalk chalk or showing their breasts at a protest.
The execution of Troy Davis has been delayed, but not stayed. He is still incarcerated for a crime that few believe that he has even committed. The thirst for blood is strong and the flawed system has him in its clutches. Whether or not he will ever see the light of day again in this life is in question. Will his blood be on all of our hands, or will we be able to help him win his freedom, long denied?

9-21-11


EDIT: They executed Troy Davis. This is a sad day, and our justice system just got a little bit more broken. Perhaps it is beyond repair. I know I have less faith in the system than I did before. How about you?