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Justice System Corruption

Decent Essays

Corruption in U.S Justice The justice system of the United States has held a complicated history of racism, greed, tragedy and corruption. Though less than three centuries old, the United States has grown to be one of the largest and most powerful of nations in the world. With a population of 323 million people, the nation is expected to be capable of keeping up with the crime and justice of the people. However, when the law is constantly changed and ratified to fit the needs of the time, control over how much power one body of the justice system has, is never constant. What defines a criminal is not strict, and the treatment does not have to necessarily be humane. Even back to the colonial times in the Americas, the idea of a judge, the overseer of justice, being independent from the approval of his leader, was the ideal philosophy; as Thomas Jefferson wrote in his arguments against the king of England "...He [King George] has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries..." (qtd. in Shugerman 14 ) It had been the argument for the longest time, that the average citizen simply wasn't intelligent enough to elect judges or other positions of power and should therefore simply stay submissive in allowing more 'competent' men choose what direction the waves of power should flow. (Shugerman 14) Thomas Jefferson admitted himself doubtful that such policy was correct in the branch of justice; it allowed for

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