Connick v. Thompson, October 16, 2010 officially gave credence to, and legitimized, what has been the unspoken but long known and accepted practice of imprisoning and executing innocents in the United States of America.
This 5-4 ruling determined that prosecutors have absolute immunity when it comes to being held accountable for gross misdeeds, misconduct, and errors committed – both in ignorance and intentionally.
In California alone between the years of 1994 and 2011 over nine hundred cases of prosecutorial misconduct were cited by the courts, while only seven were disciplined. In Texas between the years of 2004 and 2008 91 prosecutors were found by the courts to have committed misconduct. Not a single one was disciplined. There are 48 states worth to add to this.
Hiding or destroying evidence, knowingly using false evidence and testimony, manufacturing testimonies and charges … those are just a few of the proven methods they incorporate to "win" convictions.
Andy why not? The legal profession is self-governing, so who is to stop them? And given the close and mutually dependent relationship with the enforcers of the laws, that they themselves rule upon (and rule upon everyone who is not one of their fellow members of the American Bar Association), no one should be surprised.
"Winning" a conviction at all costs has replaced the notion of seeking justice, if that has ever been sought, and the truth in the end comes down to what the "decision" is. Again, why not? Who is in a position to complain and what good would it do? Closing the case is the goal. Let the appeal courts determine, if there was error.
Decades into your appeal they just may, that is, if you haven't just died of natural causes or have been executed. In the meantime, the prosecutors, and their enforcers, advance their careers and profit from their roles as pillars of the community.
Some of these will actually make the move from litigating cases to actually presiding over and ruling on them. It is a truly vicious cycle.
If you think, it cannot happen to you or to someone you love, just look at the statistics. Society as a whole is a victim of "the legal profession". The Prison Industrial Complex exists, so do not fool yourself into some false sense of security.
According to the census in 2015 the total number of incarcerated people in these United States came to 2,168,600. More than any other country in the entire world, and the only industrialized country in the western hemisphere to have the death penalty.
The main reason for this is that the judges, the prosecutors, along with their enforcers, are not held accountable for their actions, have immunity and answer to no one but themselves.
The only time someone who either doesn't know "someone" and/or gives up a lot of money gets a reprieve, is when there is a public outcry and exposure. Even then it is only a gesture, a semblance of justice being done, a wrong being righted so that the light gets extinguished and things can get back to normal.
Every time you pass by a jail or a prison take a moment to reflect the very ones you gave a vote to have, and will continue to, put innocents into those places. Lives taken away by those who only hold others accountable.
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