American justice system ignores science in the pursuit of convictions
In jury trials, prosecutors have not only a huge advantage, but also a perverse incentive to lie and cheat. They know that the jurors are not going to be experienced enough in criminal law to sniff out procedural bullshit or &quot;expert witness&quot; gambits or bullshit science, much like a novice is unlikely to win at poker against a professional player.<p>And therein lies the problem. In every trial, you have professionals (lawyers) playing against novices (jurors), and since the prosecution automatically gains special believability status in the eyes of jurors, they hold the upper hand. To make matters worse, prosecutors have the automatic full cooperation of police, whereas the defense has no such guarantees. And since prosecutors are gauged by their wins, and high ranking prosecutors are the most likely to be voted&#x2F;appointed into coveted judge seats, there is a perverse incentive to prosecute the innocent.<p>But since the system operates on the fiction that all members are equal (much like all sides are equal in a game of poker), it&#x27;s easy to brush aside the reality that they are most certainly not equal, and that the more experienced has such a huge advantage that it&#x27;s laughable to even call it fair.<p>In a system with professional judges, that wouldn&#x27;t fly, as the trained judge would see through their shenanigans and rebuke them.