Quote:
Originally Posted by avantman42
I don't think anyone has claimed that it does. As far as I can tell, pwalker8 was simply making a statement about how the system works, not commenting on how good or bad it is.
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Yep. I think all of us want the justice system to be about justice (well, except the Apple haters, who are just looking for a stick to beat Apple with.
), but the justice system is about law and procedures. Lawyers are concerned about winning their case, not about seeing justice done. If I'm a defense lawyer, I don't care if my client is guilty or not, I'm only trying to get my client off, or at least get him the best deal I can.
In theory at least, prosecutors have a higher standard, but for all practice purposes, they also are simply trying to win their case, regardless of guilt or innocence. Judges tend to be concerned about law, not justice. These days, judges prefer that the parties reach a plea bargin agreement prior to coming to trial. Quite a few judges get quite annoyed when a defendant actually decides to go to trial and will really throw the book at them to show their annoyance.
The reality of our criminal system is quite different than what one sees on TV or imagines in the abstract. Try hanging out with trial lawyers sometime (few lawyers actually argue cases in court, btw) if you want to find out what really goes on and what many judges are really like.