discuss whether the criminal justice system has been politicized by bringing
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Donald Trump indicted
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Recently, the criminal justice system has been at the receiving end after the arrest of
Donald Trump. Citizens have voiced their opinions; others are disgruntled and dissatisfied with
the action. I think the criminal justice system has been politicized by bringing criminal justice
against political opponents. Citizens and the criminal justice system face significant difficulties
when political leaders exploit criminal justice problems to boost their popularity, electability, or
power. This problem has been politicized when politicians utilize tough-on-crime language in
their campaigns. Politicians may turn to demagoguery or appeal to people's baser instincts rather
than reason when criminal justice issues become overly politicized. Crime prevention
discussions are hampered by political demagoguery.
As an example, take the allegations that some U.S. attorneys unfairly prosecuted only
Democrats for crimes that Republicans also committed. Recent data from one analysis indicates
that under the Bush administration, the Department of Justice conducted 375 investigations
targeting political candidates and officeholders. Most of those probes focused on Democrats
(Boosey, 2023, p.29).
There has been a steady flow of disturbing situations that question the department's
impartiality, but personnel need the opportunity to provide detailed explanations. I have looked
into this pattern and found several examples illustrating the problem.
Several cases have come to my attention, but I'd want to focus on one that illustrates the
potential for biased and problematic prosecution. Trial lawyer Paul Minor, a prominent
Democratic supporter in Mississippi, was mentioned by the U.S. Congress House Committee on
the Judiciary (2008) for having won two significant lawsuits against companies that may have
been affiliated with the U.S. attorney. He was charged with bribery for allegedly offering
financial guarantees and a place to reside to Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz.
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After defeating the U.S. attorney's close friend in an election for the Mississippi Supreme Court,
the justice was indicted on corruption accusations from his dealings with Paul Minor.
U.S. Congress House Committee on the Judiciary (2008) claims that the timing of the
indictments, which came out 90 days before the 2003 gubernatorial race, was intended to cast an
unfavorable image on the Democratic Party. There was no evidence of an attempt to influence or
even influence the justice, although there were financial ties between Paul Minor and the justice.
The prosecution did not present any evidence from any of Paul Minor's cases that were
heard in court. Furthermore, no other judges were questioned to determine whether or not the
justice had improperly influenced any cases involving Paul Minor or anybody associated with
him.
The fact that Paul Minor's alleged wrongdoings were commonplace in Mississippi but
had never before resulted in prosecution is the final piece of evidence against him. Both Paul
Minor and the judge ended up being acquitted of all charges. The Republican contender for
governor in Mississippi was already elected when he was acquitted. A famous Republican
contributor and the brother-in-law of a Republican U.S. senator are targets of allegations of
political favoritism directed at the assigned U.S. attorney. The Republican contributor was not
only a financial supporter of the judge but also a co-owner of the building in which the judge and
Paul Minor were both suspected of wrongdoing. Despite this evidence, the Republican donor
was not even questioned, let alone indicted.
Donald Trump's case is genuine and demonstrates a bias in applying the law (Cole &
Kashiwagi, 2023, para 11). To back up her claim that "the vast majority of blacks view the
criminal justice system as unfair," she cites statistics showing that this is, in fact, the case.
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According to a 2013 Pew study (Zavrnik, 2020, p.568), African-Americans are substantially
more likely than whites to claim that blacks have suffered unfair treatment when interacting with
police or in the courts. Black individuals are more likely to claim that the police or courts are
unjust to their people than people of other races because they believe the criminal justice system
is incredibly biased against them. Black individuals also believe the criminal justice system has
more racial prejudice than other institutions such as schools and hospitals. Seven out of ten
African Americans surveyed by Anderson reported feeling unfair treatment at the hands of law
enforcement. Contrast that with the 51% of Hispanics and 37% of whites who share this attitude.
Additionally, 68% of blacks, a far higher percentage than whites or Hispanics, felt the
justice system was biased against them (Zavrnik, 2020, p.568) Understanding the public's views
on pressing issues is crucial. Black people are more likely than members of any other minority
group to feel that the police have mistreated them compared to White people. While a sizable
minority of whites and a majority of Hispanics shared the views of African-Americans who
believe the justice system is biased against them, the majority of the latter group believed that the
courts were fair to everyone.
This article contends that the politicization of justice in the United States has led to a
flawed judicial system. Even as police forces around the country have become more diverse and
reflective of the communities they monitor, there has been a problematic continuity of bigotry,
exploitation, and abuse. In a society where wealth and status are unequally distributed, the legal
system disproportionately affects the poor and working class.
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References
Boosey, C. J. (2023). Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization into a Constitutional
Framework to Restore Public Confidence.
Cole, D., & Kashiwagi, S. (2023, March 31). Donald Trump has been indicted following an
investigation into a hush money payment scheme. Here’s what we know.
CNN
. Retrieved
from
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/trump-indictment-what-to-
know/index.html
United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary. (2008).
Allegations of selective
prosecution: The erosion of public confidence in our federal judicial system : Joint
hearing before the subcommittee on crime, terrorism, and homeland security and the
subcommittee on commercial and administrative law of the committee on the judiciary,
house of representatives, one hundred tenth congress, first session, October 23, 2007
.
U.S. Government Printing Office.
Završnik, A. (2020, March). Criminal justice, artificial intelligence systems, and human rights.
In
ERA Forum
(Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 567-583). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.