Due Process is Dead: A Staggering 95% of All Inmates in America Have Never Received a TrialBy Claire Bernish As the fundamental basis for the justice system in the United States, the Sixth Amendment states: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. Justice, as an untold though no doubt, appalling number can attest, has been utterly abandoned for the interests of the careless expedience, apathetic convenience, and unabashed profiteering of the U.S. prison-industrial machine. The reality is that almost no one who is imprisoned in America has gotten a trial, explains award-winning journalist, Chris Hedges, in a recent Truthdig column. There is rarely an impartial investigation. A staggering 97 percent of all federal cases and 95 percent of all state felony cases are resolved through plea bargaining. Of those millions who bargained away their right to a trial by accepting plea deals, significant percentages of them are innocent. Plea bargaining failed in its attempt to facilitate pragmatic justice seen in earlier courts, before the advent of the adversary system and the related development of the law of evidence, as John H. Langein once described. After the Civil War, as Judge Jed S. Rakoff explained in the New York Review of Books, rising crime and immigration rates began to burden the system and plea bargains offered an acceptable solution. In other words, court proceedings were at one time swift and simple, and though such expediency might have seemed a desirable quality in the past, the incontrovertible reality at present is a system wholly focused on speed at the expense of the necessary in fact, imperative assumption of innocence of the accused. Indeed, for incontrovertible proof the court system no longer functions for the people neither in its capacity to protect the public from the actual criminals, nor in its ostensible assurances no innocent person will be punished unfairly take even a cursory glance at the trial system. Plea bargains have actualized a replacement of justice with a farcical, well-oiled machine of incarceration. In actuality, as Rakoff described, our criminal justice system is almost exclusively a system of plea bargaining, negotiated behind closed doors and with no judicial oversight. The outcome is very largely determined by the prosecutor alone. Of all federal criminal cases, fewer than 3 percent went to trial. The plea bargains largely determined the sentences imposed. Plea deals are presented to defendants as a way to escape the near certainty of a heavy-handed sentence should they be found guilty by a jury at trial because defense attorneys and prosecutors most pressing goal is to prevent a trial in the first place. Once you are charged in America, Hedges said, whether you did the crime or not, you are almost always found guilty. In part, such unconditional guilt begat the need for The Innocence Project a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Since 1989, there have been 337 DNA-related exonerations with individuals having served a combined total of around 4,606 unjustified years an average of 14 years, each, before being freed. Of those 337 cases, 31 individuals, who had served over 150 combined years, pled guilty to crimes they didnt commit usually seeking to avoid the potential for a long sentence (or a death sentence), states The Innocence Projects website. If all of the accused went to trial, the judicial system, which is designed around plea agreements, would collapse. And this is why trial sentences are horrific. It is why public attorneys routinely urge their clients to accept a plea arrangement. Trials are a flashing red light to the accused: DO NOT DO THIS. It is the inversion of justice. Of the students he teaches in prison, those who have the longest sentences are usually the ones who demanded a trial. While the rich and powerful, especially those associated with corporations and banks, are able to escape significant punishment even when their crimes affect millions of people, such as those complicit in the 2008 financial crash the poor, whether guilty or not, fall victim to this slanted system. As Hedges summarized: If you are poor, you will be railroaded in an assembly-line production, from a town or city where there are no jobs, through the police stations, county jails and courts directly into prison. And if you are poor, because you dont have any money for adequate legal defense, you will serve sentences that are decades longer than those for equivalent crimes anywhere else in the industrialized world Being poor has become a crime. And this makes mass incarceration the most pressing civil rights issue of our era. Claire Bernish writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com Further proof that capitalism supersedes the constitution and justice while promoting disenfranchisement more handiwork of the alien/military/industrial/complex. So whats the solution? Get rid of capitalism? I dont think thats going to work. Read the Declaration of Independence for a clue. Are you confusing capitalism with corporatism? Rise up Americans! even if you can get an attorney most are lazy crooked. Look into http://www.teamlaw.org to protect yourself. THE CROWN AGENTS,,,ESQUIRES,,,ARE TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE,,AND HAVE SEALED THE FATE OF THIS ONCE GREAT NATION,,,TOO DOOM!! This, thanks to the 18th-century founders replacing the 17th-century biblical governments of, by, and for God for their own humanistic government of, by, and for the people: Ezra 7:26 and Ecclesiastes 8:11s references to speedy judgments indicate timely trials are intrinsic in Yahwehs judicial system. Except as a means to hold suspects for trial, Yahwehs law does not provide for jails or prisons. That, in itself, is an inherent demand for swift litigation. On the other hand, entitlement to a Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them [given fully, NASB] to do evil. (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Justice delayed is justice denied! Countless laws, minimal deterrence, and delayed and protracted trials multiply criminals. The more criminals,6 the more burdened the courts. The more burdened the courts, the slower justice. The slower justice, the less deterrence. The less deterrence, the more criminals. It is a never-ending degenerative cycle. Todays appellate system, which allows criminals numerous appeals, sometimes spanning years, exacerbates the problem. For example, it took ten years to finally put Ted Bundy, arguably Americas most notorious serial sexual murderer, to death. By that time, the deterrent was all but lost upon the generation most familiar with the case. Thus more criminals, more court cases, more delayed justice, less deterrence, more criminals. Eventually, society morally collapses. Under Biblical governments fewer laws and greater deterrence, far fewer criminals exist. For more, Google online Chapter 15 Amendment 6: Speedy Trials, Public Trials, and Impartial Juries of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective. Good post. The Bible also tells us that God has put it into their hearts to give their kingdom to the beast so that the words of God will be fulfilled. God is just letting us get a strong lesson on what it means to have Satan as god of this world for now. Its almost impossible in THIS world now to not join Satan to survive. What gets me through is knowing about the coming kingdom of God on this earth when Jesus returns. Then Gods laws and justice will be restored. We get to do that in His authority before His return. I know we can try, but God is letting Satan take over the world for now so that Revelation will be fulfilled. Jesus said we would be persecuted for trying to spread the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. None of us wants to suffer, but if thats what it takes to be a part of Gods kingdom so be it. Theres a lot of things that could hold me to THIS life, but Im trying to let go and let God guide my steps. Google blog article Self-Imposed Impotence and then 10 Reasons Why the Kingdom Here on Earth Isnt Mission Impossible. Do you really think that the ruling elites would give up what they have without divine intervention? I seriously doubt it! Of course not. Reread Weilands first paragraph. Do you know what hes saying? Are you in favor of abolishing the U.S. Constitution? Read some of his other posts. Hes advertising all over the web for suckers to join his anti-Constitution campaign. Do you still think its a good post? The Constitution for the United States of America has been dead for a long time. AMEN and we are running out of time. 3. Every problem America faces today can be traced back to the fact For more, Google blog article 5 Reasons the Constitution is Our Cutting-Edge Issue. Hey Weiland, you keep saying, every problem America faces today can be traced back to the fact that the framers failed to expressly establish a government upon Yahwehs immutable morality When a government WAS established on Yahwehs morality, how did that work out? IT DIDNT WORK OUT! Read the Old Testament. So bugger off. You dont have a superior way. You are just raising money for your own stinking pockets. The constitution is but parchment. What has died is those than animate it. We must choose to be free and virtuous for the constitution to work. Even John Adams said that the Constitution was written for a moral and religious people and that it wouldnt work for any other. The reason it stopped working is because we are no longer a moral and religious country. IF our politicians followed the Constitution we wouldnt have so many problems. I dont want to abolish the Constitution but for our politicians and states to follow it. President John Adams wrote that: Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. This is an accurate quotation. However, its often employed by Christians as if Adams was referring to Christianity and Yahwehs morality as codified in His He once asked, Where is to be found theology more orthodox or phylosophy [sic] According to Adams, religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society. (August 28, 1811, letter to Benjamin Any nations constitution and government benefits from moral Christian citizens, even those nations whose constitution are not based upon Yahwehs morality as found in His perfect law and altogether righteous judgments (Psalm 19:7-9) such as the United States of America. However, when such constitutions are not based upon Yahwehs law, it is inevitable that such nations will become more and more The fact is that the US people in general have turned into an entitlement mentality with little thought for their fellow man. I see it in the quality of work people do for others like building homes (for example). My father taught me that you do the best job you can no matter what you are doing or what you get paid. That is not the attitude of most workers today. Especially the younger generations. Most do not want to do any manual labor and they expect CEO wages with no experience. It seems to be a generally selfish attitude that carries over to everything in their lives. When I was a kid most people didnt worry about locking their cars everywhere they went. Now, you dont dare leave your car unlocked. Ive asked people who steal why they do it and they say its because they wanted it. No guilt or remorse. They see nothing wrong with taking things that belong to someone else. It seems our politicians think the same way. I blame a lot of this attitude on the schools who reward kids for just showing up. When these kids are not taught to be responsible for their own actions, of course they dont have any guidelines to live by. Religion teaches morals and at one time people were afraid to break the laws of God whatever their religion happens to be. As our Bible says there will be a great falling away in these end times. I think with most people God is some distant figure that doesnt affect their lives so they dont care about Gods law and it shows in what is happening to this country. Our Founders expected the people to elect others who had a strong moral character so that they would deal with the governed as if they were their own family. The simple commandment that Jesus taught love your neighbor! If your problem with the U.S. Constitution is that it is not based upon Yahwehs law, I would argue that Yahwehs law which is designed to guide His children back to heaven is not designed to, nor does it have sufficient description of a self governing republics government. For instance, nowhere in the Bible do we have the description of a government with checks and balances as our inspired Framers devised. Perhaps your position is that we should do away with the system of checks and balances. What then, Weiland? How do we limit those of our brothers and sisters who choose and are chosen to rule us? We all see the many attempts of Obama to grab power. Many failed thanks to the U.S. Constitution and the rest are being challenged with the U.S. Constitution as the authority. You continually campaign against the U.S. Constitution, but you have nothing better to replace it. You are a complainer without a solution. Hey Weiland, you keep saying, every problem America faces today When a government WAS established on Yahwehs morality, how did that work out? IT DIDNT WORK! Read the Old Testament. So bugger off. You dont have a superior way. You are just raising money for your own stinking pockets. You are correct in my opinion. I just dont think the Constitution has stopped working all together quite yet. It has stopped Obama several times. We dont need to throw it out, just strengthen it against the liberal progressive forces that are working to corrode it. On the surface Ted and his minions sound great. But once you dig into the arguments you realize they are peddling a website with an equivocation fallacy. the premise is that the Bible does not equal the Constitution, therefore the constitution needs to be destroyed. Ted and his minions are committed to theocracy and they dont mind if they diminish the bible or the constitution in the process. Remember fundamentally that the Constitution and the bible are alike in some ways making some of the equivocations plausiblethey are written on paper is one of them. The difference with the bible is there is a spiritual component where the these things are written on your heart and in your mind. For example Christians have to choose the spirit, similar to Americans have to choose to be virtuous for it to work. Neither work without a religious and morale people freely choosing the virtuous life. The false equivocations seem to point to Ted and his minions wanting to force things on people and purport a religious test which comes off as perfectionism plain and simple. In this way Karl Marx was a perfectionist who loved the tenets of Christianity but rejected the spiritual component. Central planners are all about force, the bible and the constitution are about freedom. It boils down to a choice. Ted and his minions have staked out a position that diminishes both in some unseemly ways which i detest. This myth making group seeks conformity like all of the central planners who build their house on sinking sand. The truth shall set you free. As it said in this article plea bargains started after the Civil War. Actually, a lot of this countrys problems were stated during and after that war. Not only did it beat several of the states into submission but the people also by taking away their States rights for a number of years. It showed that our freedom could be taken away by force and intimidated the people of once free states that the government was stronger. Hundreds of thousands of people got poorer or died while the banks got richer. Its been that way ever since. The progressive era was birthed at this time. The perfectionists movements and the Marxist movements began to gain following in the mid-late 1800s. Nicolaitans all of them. There were a few bright periods where things slowed down.Coolidge/Truman/Reagan. Most all of the other presidents of the 20th century were progressives are had progressive tendencies. Bush, Obama and now Trump (I hope not) are all progressives with no principles just hoax and chains. Prosecutors routinely over-charge defendants. It gives them extraordinarily unfair power to extort a guilty plea. It is as corrupt as so many others institutions of government. It feeds the machine. Doesnt matter if DA is a republican or democrat, elected or appointed. The prison system is a Corporation now! Money talks! Nobody walks! The injustice starts by not being informed of the cause of the charges. This is due to the cause being the false application of codes over the top of constitutional protections (rightsnot privileges). Go sit in court for a day. You will hear the nature of the charges all day long but never the cause. Those of us who have taken a stand and insisted on being informed of the cause have been jailed for contempt of court. This tells you how they are committing the fraud. Now it is up to you to spread the word and help people find their courage to insist that the courts follow the Supreme Law of the land. By charging you under a secret cause you are agreeing to defend it when you enter your not guilty pleayou just agreed that you intended to break the law because that is what cause really comes down tointent. Clearly the process of plea bargaining has placed our Republic on the precipice! Learn how NOT to contract with the system under Satan. How about actually reading the 13th Amendment? That should put all this and many other current issues in perspective. The Not Imagine You Those In Your Randy I know this to be true because I worked the last 15 years of my career in the county and district legal justice system. The system is horrendously broken. 