Equal Justice Under Law
August 27th, 2009
In 1974, when President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, Senator Ted Kennedy said:
Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law? Or is there one system for the average citizen, and another for the high and mighty?
Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Ford, justice, Kennedy, Law, Nixon, pardon
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (7) | Home
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Was he thinking of his own treatment by the law after Chappaquiddick ? Ted would have been far easier to respect if most of his statments didn’t conflict with his own actions time and again.
Sad to say, we have at least two separate systems, neither of which I’d call “justice.”
Something about a pot and a kettle wasn’t it. Kennedy enjoyed the immunity that only wealth can buy. What Nixon did really amounted to nothing. The present administration is about to give us some real moments to remember.
Everyone believes in justice for all — until you are the guilty one, then all is fair. Rich or not, our justice system stinks to high heaven, and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it. To get a trial, especially a so-called fair one, you must have a lot of money, but that doesn’t even guarantee a just outcome, just that you will be broke when all is said and done. The rich and white have a far greater chance of justice, but is it justice if it is bought and paid for?
Fact is that even one of the most liberal supreme court justices ever (Thurgood Marshall) said that almost everybody indicted is guilty of what they were indicted for. Notice he said “almost.” The flip side of that coin is that there are probably a great many people that should have been indicted, tried, and convicted, but never were.
And if you think about it, it is about as fair a system as we can create. Imagine the abuses that would exist if 25% or even half of the people that were indicted were actually not guilty of what it was that they were charged with.
Some wealthy people can get away with things that the rest of us cannot, but by and large, the folks who get away with things are those that are politically connected, and even that doesn’t always help. Party affiliation seems in many cases to be irrelevant – the republicrats take care of themselves.
Say what? You think it is sort of just? I figured you, above all, would be all over this one, I don’t agree with the judge. I believe the poor, mostly blacks, get found guilty, mostly, even if innocent. I also believe the rich are most likely found innocent or get a lighter sentence. Just what does the judge base this on — the people telling him, or the decisions he makes. Statistics could never reflect this, due to not really knowing if all or most are guilty, just speculating that if found guilty, they are?
You’re going to believe what you want in spite of any contradictory evidence. If you want evidence that it isn’t money and skin color that gets you out of a long prison term, you should go pay a visit to Bernie Madoff, Andrew Fastow, or Jeff Skilling. And if we could talk to ghosts, we could ask Ken Lay as well.
It is the politically connected that get away with things. One need look no further than Kennedy because his political career should have ended in 1969. Does anyone really believe that Barney Frank did not know that his boyfriend was running a brothel out of their Georgetown apartment? There are people sitting in prison, as I type, for perjuring themselves in civil trials on the witness stand about sexual affairs while Bill Clinton is getting book deals for millions and is generally being treated very well.
I agree that there are far too many blacks in prison, and not because they are not guilty of the crimes for which they’ve been convicted, but because possession of marijuana and cocaine should not be crimes to begin with.