June 24, 2016

The Shame of American Criminal Justice: Abusive Courts

             On paper, the American Constitution, within its first 10 amendments, known as the "Bill of Rights," guarantees citizens the right to a trial by jury and protection against "cruel and unusual punishment."  Later, in the 14th Amendment, the Constitution provides that citizens cannot be deprived of their life, liberty, or property without "due process of law."  Although not specifically stated, it is also implied in three amendments, the 5th, 6th, and the 14th, that an accused is considered innocent until proven guilty.  These are among the legal protections that provide a foundation for democracies.  While a defendant is awaiting trial, American courts provide for an elaborate system of bail, which allows those individuals to deposit money or property in the court's holding to guarantee against their flight.  The system is great for the middle and upper classes and for the Bail/Bond Commercial Industry; it is different for the poor.

             A judge can deny bail and order pre-trial detention in cases of capital crimes if there is a high risk of flight or if the defendant is considered dangerous to the community.  However, in most cases, a middle-class or upper-class person is able to post bail and remain free until the trial.  For a poor person, bail is set at the same amount depending on the offense, not on the means of the defendant.  Thus, a system of pre-trial detention forces masses of poor people behind bars for many months while they wait for their turn in overloaded court systems.  The tragedy is that "detention centers" are not much different from regular prisons, and detained defendants, innocent and guilty alike, are thrown into the general inmate population.  It is common knowledge that an individual becoming a general population inmate must be a "Viking or a victim;" for the weak, it means a life of rape and enslavement.  It is a clear case of "justice delayed equals justice denied."  I experienced this firsthand during the years that I worked as a teacher and counselor inside the prisons of New York City's Rikers Island.  The bulk of these cases are resolved through a system of "plea bargain," where detained defendants, after months of incarceration, are offered the choice to plead guilty to a lesser charge and be sentenced to "time served," with immediate release.  Otherwise, their inexperience, the Legal Aid Society, a court-appointed attorney, tells them that they can wait more time behind bars to go to trial and then risk a long sentence.  It is an offer few can refuse.

             If this type of "plea bargain" system were to be eliminated, the court system would be overwhelmed; it would collapse.  The possible solutions are additional funding for more courts and personnel, running existing courthouses on a 24/7 schedule, and the introduction of lower-salary magistrates to take lesser offense cases away from high-salary judges.  A simple way to convince the public to accept the higher cost of these reforms would be to restructure the bail system so as to set bail based on means to pay.  Hence, masses of middle and upper-class defendants would experience a stay in detention centers for non-capital crimes.  Of course, while most of us are insulated from a stay in the hell of prison, it is easier to continue to keep the plight of the poor out of sight and out of mind.  Is this the America we want?


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