American Criminal Justice System Inc

Civil society flourishes when its people - young or old, black or white or brown - can trust that justice will be dispensed without fear or favor. The United States is only about 5 percent of the world's population, but it is home to 25 percent of the world prisoners. The American criminal justice system presently is broken, and an example of justice run amok. The system has deteriorated to a point whereby innocent people are being imprisoned even with the lack of sufficient evidence. For the real criminals, punishments are often not commensurate with the crime. Consequently, the criminal justice system does more harm than good - destroying lives, shattering dreams and crushing hopes and aspirations for happiness. The credo of legal jurisprudence in any civilized dispensation is that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent jurisdiction. However, in the United States of America, the reverse is the case due to its misguided penal policies. Under normal circumstances, obeying the law is enough to shield anyone from trouble. Unfortunately, the current dispensation is hardly normal and being careful in private or public life does not insulate against being caught in the cobweb of the numerous laws and regulations that are the hallmarks of the criminal justice system. Prosecutors take to the extreme the dangerous human impulse to punish perceived offenders - real or imagined. Stories of prosecutorial abuse run like a horror movie. Reports of unwarranted arrests, police brutality, senseless prosecutions, and mass incarceration are a commonplace to the extent that the country's legal system is teetering dangerously towards a precipice. The visible signs of pain and anguish can be seen in many families devastated by the imprisonment of a loved one and the so-called respect for human rights can only be thought of in comparative terms. The lack of a guilty mind no longer matters in criminal cases in U.S. courts. As a result, the nation has drifted from the core foundations and principles on which the Union was built, which add up to one concept and one word: freedom. In the context of the nation's criminal justice system, this "American Creed" lies in tatters. With so many locked up, the United States has become a nation that feeds on its own. While this book confirms my profound view that one of the primary responsibilities of government is to punish criminals for public safety and security, and underpinned by the notion that society has a right to demand punishment for wrongdoers, I also explore how this fundamental tenet must operate within a justice system that is equal and fair. There is no justification for mass incarceration; it could no longer be defended morally. America needs a more rational and sensible justice system, one that is fair - a people's justice system - that all can trust to protect them while punishing offenders appropriately and ensuring that innocent people are not unfairly prosecuted or imprisoned. Only a reformed justice system can give practical meaning to the noble ideals on which the nation was founded. American Criminal Justice System, Inc: Rogue Criminal Prosecution in an Era of Mass Incarceration, is a product of my experience with the U.S. criminal justice system. It is also a concept of the knowledge I gained from many that I met in prison - guilty and innocent. My book communicates clearly and presents the most compelling arguments yet of how government prosecutors and their cronies use crazy laws, plea bargain, false witnesses and other unwholesome tactics to oppress its people. This book will benefit readers in a significant way and remind me that every day that I live in freedom, many languish in captivity. It is my hope that telling my story will shed new light into the dark alley of the U.S. criminal justice system.