introduction to his Vanderbilt article, titled “In Defense of American Criminal Justice,” he explained the genesis of his defense: American criminal justice system is on “The trial. A chorus of commentators often but – not exclusively in the legal academy has – leveled a sharp indictment of criminal process in our country. The indictment charges that large flaws infect nearly every stage of the adjudicatory process. And the prescriptions are equally far reaching, with calls for abolition of many current practices and an overhaul of the entire system. What is more, the critics issue their condemnations essentially as givens, often claiming that all reasonable people could not help but agree that fair treatment of the accused has been fatally compromised. For these critics, ‘We live in a time of sharply decreasing faith in the criminal justice system.’ As a judge with faith in that system, I am dismayed by the relentless insistence that we
introduction to his Vanderbilt article, titled “In Defense of American Criminal Justice,” he explained the genesis of his defense: “The American criminal justice system is on trial. A chorus of commentators – often but not exclusively in the legal academy – has leveled a sharp indictment of criminal process in our country. The indictment charges that large flaws infect nearly every stage of the adjudicatory process. And the prescriptions are equally far reaching, with calls for abolition of many current practices and an overhaul of the entire system. What is more, the critics issue their condemnations essentially as givens, often claiming that all reasonable people could not help but agree that fair treatment of the accused has been fatally compromised. For these critics, ‘We live in a time of sharply decreasing faith in the criminal justice system.’ As a judge with faith in that system, I am dismayed by the relentless insistence that we
Is%20the%20Criminal%20Justice%20System%20Defensible.docx