Originally Posted by Chase

It's much easier said than done, SG. I'm surprised a member hasn’t waved a flag and told us all to love this system or leave the country. Maybe it’s because so many deafies are at the system’s lower levels.

Actually, the U.S. does have a legal system to be proud of . . . on the federal level. It’s the lower court and law enforcement systems long-overdue for overhaul. State systems can be better or worse, but it’s county and city law which are largely known as “the local injustice systems,” where the U.S. Constitution is only a vague concept.

The people at the heart of this system are local judges, prosecution lawyers, defense lawyers, top echelons of law enforcement, and professional bureaucrats typically more interested in numbers to boost careers than justice for individuals.

We are led to believe these groups work in an adversarial system of checks and balances. It’s not true. Instead, work in one group becomes a stepping stone to a higher or better-paid position in another group. Very typically, the probation officer completes night school and becomes a public defender. Then an assistant city or county prosecutor and back and forth on both sides of the fence several times. Then a city judge. Then the district attorney, then a county judge. In general, they are all playing musical chairs – only the system always has more than enough chairs to go around, so few have to hustle. If you don’t have the right credentials, you can become an assistant caseworker or a counselor of something. The judges will sentence enough to attend your classes if you play the game.

Smarter police and sheriff’s officers also join in the game. Not only do departments get grants and funding for certain arrest, but there is always room higher up for the right people.

Unfortunately, most deafies – Democrat, Republican, Independent, conservative, liberal, you name it – are among those whom the system seldom favors.