Judicial Issues
Judicial issues are those that deal with civil and criminal law, with our courts, and with how we administer justice. For a society to survive, justice must exist for all its citizens and permeate every aspect of business and government. This means that the laws and individuals’ rights need to be respected, and that the appropriate rewards and punishments are handed out. For instance, when someone commits a crime, this person is given a punishment that is commensurate with the crime. In addition, when individuals obey the laws of the land, they should continue to be protected by society and to be allowed to enjoy the rights of citizenship.
Today, there are many problems that exist within our criminal justice system. The crime rate remains high, with too many criminals and not enough police and other law enforcement officials to handle all the cases. Public defenders are overworked, underpaid, and lack the resources to adequately represent their clients. Private lawyers are expensive and often only seem interested in getting their clients off instead of looking for justice. Too many criminals get off on technicalities, even when there is overwhelming evidence of their guilt.
In addition, our prisons are overflowing with inmates and are often breeding grounds for violence and crime. Only a small minority of these inmates are truly reformed while in prison. When they leave prison, many simply return to a life of crime and then go back to prison. It is no wonder that so many individuals have such a lack of and low opinion for our police, lawyers, courts, and legal system.
There are also problems with our civil judicial system. There are way too many frivolous and nuisance lawsuits. In fact, the threat of a lawsuit is often used as a form of extortion, since even defendants that win in civil cases can end up incurring huge expenditures of time and money in legal costs. Settlements are also often astronomical.
For instance, large awards in malpractice suits have driven up malpractice insurance and medical costs and forced many doctors out of business. Lawyers often obtain huge fees while their clients end up with very little of the settlements. Many innocent defendants lose cases when juries are swayed by emotion instead of hard evidence. This is especially true when the issues involved are way too complicated for most of us to fully understand in the short time given to explain them during a trial.
There are also many judicial problems that are related to international law and our treaties. There are many countries where criminals can hide money obtained from illegal activity or where they can flee without fear of extradition. In addition, our modern electronic and technological age allows many criminals to conduct their criminal activities from the safety of a foreign country.
To restore a sense of justice and security in our society we must get a handle on crime. To do this, we must ensure that there are enough law enforcement officers to prevent and to investigate crimes, that innocent individuals are exonerated, that criminals are convicted and punished, and that prisoners are reformed, when possible.
We also need to reform our civil legal system so that lawsuits are not misused. We want to ensure that the innocent do not suffer, that the guilty are not punished too much and are reformed, and that plaintiffs get their fair share of any settlements.
With the advent of technology and globalization, there is also a need to reexamine our laws and judicial system even further. We need to use all we have learned from our past and current successes and failures from around the world to adapt our legal system to the realities of modern life. We especially need to update our laws and treaties with other countries to ensure that criminals are not protected, and the innocent are not persecuted by foreign governments.
In the following sections, I will try to explain what I believe we need to do to have a legal system that will provide justice for all.
Law Enforcement -
How to improve Law Enforcement to make our lives safer.
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