Justice In America

America was founded as a Constitutional Republic rather than a democracy. The distinction is extremely important, since a pure democracy, as the saying goes, is two wolves and a lamb voting on what’s for dinner. 

The Republic bestows vital rights, otherwise we would likely lapse into tyranny, whether it be that of a heavy-handed government or an emotional mob. Basic safeguards are rendered in the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment in the Bill of Rights which guarantees, among other things, certain rights to the accused, including the right to a speedy public trial, the right to a lawyer, the right to know one’s accusers, and the right to an impartial jury.

The Bill of Rights should never be taken for granted since it’s the only thing that stands between freedom and the sheer terror of “the knock on the door in the middle of the night.” To understand fear in the absence of a functioning judicial system, think of the Jew facing the Nazi guard, the young Black man in the racist South, or the multitudes living in so many dictatorial regimes today.

The Bill of Rights is not perfect and is incapable of addressing every injustice – take, for example, the permanent stain of slavery on our history. However, America’s judicial system is the closest thing we have to meting out even-handed justice. Take, again, the right to a jury trial for alleged serious crimes, placing adjudication in the hands of a peer group. Yes, there are many instances of seeming miscarriages of justice, particularly where differences in financial means allow the rich to afford robust defense counsel while the poor more often are forced to take a plea deal. 

It is easy to cite examples of what we might regard as politicized justice e.g. the pendulum swing between the term “peaceful protesters” in Portland, and the term “American Patriots” describing  those who stormed our Capital. Whether or not we agree with the decisions in any particular case, the overriding point is that reliance on a jury system for justice far surpasses the alternative to a top-down authoritarian rule beholden to party politics.

In light of the recent significant jury verdicts nationally, we should feel blessed about our judicial system, compared to how justice is delivered in Putin’s Russia, Xi’s China, or by the Mullahs terrorizing Middle East by enforcing Shariah Law.

— Sina.