One of my personal favorites as a kid was Superman (a registered trademark of DC Comics and an American Icon). This guy rocked. Superman fought crime in America. He took on the bad guys and always triumphed. He stood for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Over the years, his comic remained, but Supes has gone into hiding. If he stood up for the current American Way now, hed be a bad guy.
What does truth and fighting crime have in common? Not much. Did you know that our criminal courts dont care about truth? They exclude actual factual evidence on technicalities. They allow manipulation of juries in ways that have no bearing on facts. They will interpret the law to suit the defendant, but almost never the prosecution.
Heres how criminal court should be conducted:
NO JURY MANIPULATION: The trial takes place in the locality of the crime. The jury consists of 15 (12 primary and 3 alternate) registered voters. If someone registers to vote you can be assured they actually give a damn. And it is reasonable to assume they are smart enough to receive, analyze, and understand evidence and instruction. They are chosen by lottery. The only one who can exclude anyone is the judge. His exclusions are limited to the number of alternates available. Lawyers may present detailed requests for exclusion, but they should not have the right of peremptory dismissal. The idea is that to be truly impartial, neither side should be allowed to shape the jury. Oh yeah, and all jury costs are equally split between the two parties as long as the defense isnt court appointed. There have been appeals based on the jury being paid by the state.
NO EXCLUDING EVIDENCE: Remember, the new objective of the criminal court is to ascertain TRUTH. Guilt or Innocence will flow from the absolute facts of the matter. So, no evidence can be excluded. The judge has an obligation to ensure the jury receives the facts. IF evidence was obtained illegally then the judge must accept the evidence and initiate a separate prosecution. If it became a rock steady tenet of law that illegal searches would be prosecuted, there would be far less alleged corner cutting by law enforcement.
STICK TO THE FACTS: Each juror should receive a briefing paper from both sides. It needs to resemble a military JAG (Judge Advocate General) investigation in content. Basically it would outline the facts of the case (and each fact must cite an item of evidence), form opinions (which are based solely on the facts cited before), and provide recommendations (which must rely on the facts cited, and obviously flow from the opinions formed). This is not the entire case. But, the jury then has a script, a program if you will, of the proceedings. This will allow them to monitor testimony and possibly see tricky strategy as it happens. Finally, there needs to be a twist. The jury should be able to submit questions to the attorneys and the judge should compel them to answer. For a separate class on constructing an ironclad investigation document, go read chapter two of the Jag Manual itself.
COMPEL TESTIMONY: Ok, here it is. Fix the 5th Amendment. nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself This needs to go. Since our Constitution is a Living Document, we need to realize that in the late 18th century the compelling was a euphemism for torture. I believe that in order to get to the truth, we can now compel truthful answers using a polygraph, or truth serum. Like it or not, it is common knowledge that if you invoke the 5th amendment at all you are likely hiding something. There are a few social misfits out there who invoke the 5th just for the pleasure of watching the court jump through hoops. But the overwhelming majority of the people who didnt do it are happy to help prove they are innocent. By compelling (humanely) a truthful answer we will eliminate a huge number of trials by excluding the innocent.
PUT APPEALS IN LINE BY SEVERITY: Heres another one guaranteed to tick off the many. Appeals should be heard by severity in order to either set aside or implement the harshest sentence. Assume you are found guilty of murder and sentenced to life without parole. Assume the other felon is sentenced to death. The death penalty case should hit the appeal docket first. Obviously it would fall in behind older death penalties. It makes no sense for a fifteen-year gap between sentencing and actual completion of sentence.
Our courts are still the best in the world. But as times change the old and new rules and attitudes are jumbled up in a mess of confusions that snarl up what should be a straightforward process. If we focus more on the truth, we will actually end up protecting the innocent and assuring more fair trials for the accused. By focusing on Truth first (as Superman did) we will make sure that everyone is accountable and actual Justice is achieved.
Oh yeah
What does truth and fighting crime have in common? Not much. Did you know that our criminal courts dont care about truth? They exclude actual factual evidence on technicalities. They allow manipulation of juries in ways that have no bearing on facts. They will interpret the law to suit the defendant, but almost never the prosecution.
Heres how criminal court should be conducted:
NO JURY MANIPULATION: The trial takes place in the locality of the crime. The jury consists of 15 (12 primary and 3 alternate) registered voters. If someone registers to vote you can be assured they actually give a damn. And it is reasonable to assume they are smart enough to receive, analyze, and understand evidence and instruction. They are chosen by lottery. The only one who can exclude anyone is the judge. His exclusions are limited to the number of alternates available. Lawyers may present detailed requests for exclusion, but they should not have the right of peremptory dismissal. The idea is that to be truly impartial, neither side should be allowed to shape the jury. Oh yeah, and all jury costs are equally split between the two parties as long as the defense isnt court appointed. There have been appeals based on the jury being paid by the state.
NO EXCLUDING EVIDENCE: Remember, the new objective of the criminal court is to ascertain TRUTH. Guilt or Innocence will flow from the absolute facts of the matter. So, no evidence can be excluded. The judge has an obligation to ensure the jury receives the facts. IF evidence was obtained illegally then the judge must accept the evidence and initiate a separate prosecution. If it became a rock steady tenet of law that illegal searches would be prosecuted, there would be far less alleged corner cutting by law enforcement.
STICK TO THE FACTS: Each juror should receive a briefing paper from both sides. It needs to resemble a military JAG (Judge Advocate General) investigation in content. Basically it would outline the facts of the case (and each fact must cite an item of evidence), form opinions (which are based solely on the facts cited before), and provide recommendations (which must rely on the facts cited, and obviously flow from the opinions formed). This is not the entire case. But, the jury then has a script, a program if you will, of the proceedings. This will allow them to monitor testimony and possibly see tricky strategy as it happens. Finally, there needs to be a twist. The jury should be able to submit questions to the attorneys and the judge should compel them to answer. For a separate class on constructing an ironclad investigation document, go read chapter two of the Jag Manual itself.
COMPEL TESTIMONY: Ok, here it is. Fix the 5th Amendment. nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself This needs to go. Since our Constitution is a Living Document, we need to realize that in the late 18th century the compelling was a euphemism for torture. I believe that in order to get to the truth, we can now compel truthful answers using a polygraph, or truth serum. Like it or not, it is common knowledge that if you invoke the 5th amendment at all you are likely hiding something. There are a few social misfits out there who invoke the 5th just for the pleasure of watching the court jump through hoops. But the overwhelming majority of the people who didnt do it are happy to help prove they are innocent. By compelling (humanely) a truthful answer we will eliminate a huge number of trials by excluding the innocent.
PUT APPEALS IN LINE BY SEVERITY: Heres another one guaranteed to tick off the many. Appeals should be heard by severity in order to either set aside or implement the harshest sentence. Assume you are found guilty of murder and sentenced to life without parole. Assume the other felon is sentenced to death. The death penalty case should hit the appeal docket first. Obviously it would fall in behind older death penalties. It makes no sense for a fifteen-year gap between sentencing and actual completion of sentence.
Our courts are still the best in the world. But as times change the old and new rules and attitudes are jumbled up in a mess of confusions that snarl up what should be a straightforward process. If we focus more on the truth, we will actually end up protecting the innocent and assuring more fair trials for the accused. By focusing on Truth first (as Superman did) we will make sure that everyone is accountable and actual Justice is achieved.
Oh yeah
