I'm a Judge and I Think Criminal Court Is Horrifying
The criminal justice system can be jarring, even to those of us who are lawyers. I was a clerk for a judge in Philadelphia, and saw a ton of criminal convictions - usually drug cases - come up on appeal. Two things stuck out: (1) we jail a lot of people for stupid things; (2) there are a lot of bad people in these communities.[1]<p>I&#x27;d see someone appealing a sentence for selling some OxyContin and think, &quot;geez, what a waste of money to put this guy in prison.&quot; But he&#x27;s got a rap sheet a mile long - theft, robbery, assault, etc.<p>The treatment of the criminally-accused in this country is deplorable. But it&#x27;s also the product of a society that got fed up with skyrocketing crime a few decades ago and responded in a harsh and heartless manner. Crime is a lot lower today than it was in the 1990s, but even in the safest American cities murder rates are 5 times higher than big cities in Europe that aren&#x27;t even considered that safe (like Berlin). And crime is heavily concentrated in poor places like the Bronx.<p>And the usual canard - for profit prisons - isn&#x27;t even applicable here. Private prisons are illegal in New York. This isn&#x27;t lobbying at work, this is purely a product of the democratic will reacting to devilish social issues. That&#x27;s what makes it so hard to fix.<p>[1] I was also living in downtown Baltimore during the post-Freddie Gray unrest. I was disappointed to see the acquittals. At the same time, if I were in those cops&#x27; shoes, I&#x27;m not sure if have the moral strength to be any different. Society needs a certain amount of order to function. In much of Baltimore, that order doesn&#x27;t exist. Gangs are in charge and the law-abiding people of those neighborhoods are the biggest victims of that.