Still Ranting About Injustice

It is sickening to be cross-examined by someone who aims at boosting her prosecutorial batting average rather than ensuring that justice is served. That day in court I dealt with a very sarcastic prosecutor who decried the evidence given by several professionals who had no real axe to grind. Some of us - and I was one - were appearing without fee because we believed so strongly in the defendant's mental state. So we had a prosecutor who sneered at our collective and consistent view that here was a textbook example of "battered wife" syndrome. I know we all sometimes have to do difficult things as part of our jobs, but I regarded this prosecutor as a traitor to her own sex and, even worse, a monstrous affront to all mankind. I applaud what actors do on stage or on screen - in real life, however, I cannot applaud the "playing" of a part where someone's welfare and liberty lie in the balance.

I take comfort from the fact that most magistrates and judges do appreciate the need for balance and stand willing to tailor the punishment to the fully-comprehended nature of the deed. I just hate all the posturing and game-playing that precede the eventual sentencing phase.

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The fundamental issue of using an adversarial technique to establish facts and truth -- elusive concepts -- is an ideal difficult to realize. Gaining a desired outcome independent of the facts and truth is more concrete and less satisfying. The spill over of this approach into politics is paralyzing the US.
 
Thanks, mate. Glad to hear from others who worry about the "system".

Have to say one thing though - if you think the US political system is paralysed, then check out what's happening in Australia. We had an election over a week ago and the result is a tie! We're now wondering who's steering the ship through all the icebergs.
 

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