Thursday, October 14, 2010

Adam: Judge, Jury: Just Junk

When the American government was founded one of the main goals was to make sure our government was a balanced and public powered operation. But aside from the many flaws of what this government has adapted into, There is one branch in particular that has always confused me: The judicial branch.

The older I get the more I begin to realize that adults are just children that have grown up. This may seem pretty obvious to most of you. But when I was growing up I guess I just figured something happened to every human that turns them into an adult. The older I get the more I realize that I still remember being a teenager, and I have realized that adults aren't some completely different form of human.

Once I came to this conclusion I began to see just how flawed the judicial branch of the government can really be. Judges are normal people, they are human beings. Judges went to high school, had pimples, got picked on, got dumped, got smashed in college, and all the other things that happen to normal average human Americans. When you think about it from this perspective the next rational thing that comes to mind is...what gives them the right? For instance lets say the judge's child broke a vase this morning, he slept through his alarm, burnt his lip drinking coffee then entered his courtroom and went face to face with a stuttering nervous innocent man? By this time this average human being (the Judge) who has had a bad day doesn't have the patience for this innocent man and makes the wrong call. That could drastically change the course of that speech challenged man's life...

Juries aren't much better, if the defendant isn't attractive or has bad hygiene the wrong call can very easily be made. Or the opposite could happen a guilty good looking dude could walk! Put yourself in the jury (because as a citizen of America you could actually be in a jury having to determine how a human life that is worth no more or less than your own will be changed forever) Think about this, you get the letter in the mail that you have jury duty on a day that you have plans to watch the clippers vs the mud hens. The game starts at noon and this court session is inching towards ruining your nice little afternoon plans. When facing twelve angry men and a nice summer day are you really willing to honestly look at this humans case and give your opinion on an incident you know nothing about?

How can we say hmm this person will be a judge and all day everyday they will make their money hearing people's stories and then determining the fate of those people. Anyone who watches sports will tell you that Referees, Umpires, Officials NEVER get it right so what makes us think that a Judge would be any different? If anything there are more mistakes in the courtroom for lack of instant replay. Judges go to law school but all the school in the world can't make the lens that they view life through completely unbiased.

We are all humans and no one person is, in anyway, more valuable than another.

Go Bucks

2 comments:

  1. It's true, judges are human and they make human mistakes like anyone else does. Luckily, there are some things that keep them in check, like having a jury make the decision sometimes. The jury consists of other humans that are educated on the case and facts relating to it before they make a decision.

    Yes, they make mistakes. Yes, they're human. Yes, they're influenced by their lives.

    But what would you rather it be? A computer that has no compassion? What is your better suggestion?

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  2. I am with Kacie on this one Schuch. Sure people make mistakes, but what is the alternative? I think its overall a really good system.

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