A GROUP comes out with a list of crimes against judges, lawyers, and other court personalities. Without passing judgment, I am sure it is much shorter than the list of crimes committed on poor plaintiffs and defendants by our two-tiered justice system that is quick and rigid for the poor who cannot afford a lawyer but slow and bending for the rich whose highly-paid lawyers know every legal trick to get their clients off the hook.
This is disturbing but not half as much as that mainstream media seem not to be bothered by it. They throw flak at mismanagement and corruption in the Executive branch of government. They also shoot barbed arrows at targets in Congress, against their excessive salaries and allowances for practically doing nothing but grandstand on nation-wide TV.
But where’s the noise against the Supreme Court’s and/or the Department of Justice’s inaction to correct our unfair justice system? Where’s the noise against interminable delays (which favor the rich) in the administration of justice in this country?
If no branch of government is lifting a significant finger to remove the flaws in our justice system, why are journalists or media in general, who are supposed to watch the powerful for the powerless, not raising hell so people would move in a concerted fashion towards establishing a fair justice system?
The poor are greatly disadvantaged by this flawed system. They cannot afford bail and must stay in prison to await trial that takes ages to conduct and conclude. The rich on the other hand can afford brilliant lawyers who would know how to prolong a trial until it is forgotten or until a favorable judge replaces the incumbent or until a (contrived?) force majeure destroys the evidence, etc., etc., etc.
Nowadays, media are busy breathing down the necks of policemen who protect drug lords or are drug lords themselves and against policemen who plant evidence or kill witnesses for a fee. But surprisingly nobody seems to be hanging the proverbial sword of Damocles on judges and lawyers who abet the sins of these policemen and who themselves accept bribes for a favorable judgment.
No signs are visible that concerned branches of government are exerting more than token effort to correct a seriously flawed justice system while the call of poor and powerless victims for a more equitable justice system stays muted.
That is to be expected in our upper class-dominated society. What is most disappointing is media, the supposed watchdogs (isn’t that why they insist on press freedom), passing over this anti-poor anomaly in relative silence. When will media start to voice out the people’s up-to-now muted call to change Lady Justice’s see-through blindfold to something opaque?