Friday, February 10, 2023

Judges Are Immune In Practice

After committing misdeeds from the bench, 9 out of 10 judges keep their jobs. Many go back to the bench even after serving a sentence. 

In the past dozen years, state and local judges have repeatedly escaped public accountability for misdeeds that have victimized thousands. Nine of 10 kept their jobs, a Reuters investigation found – including an Alabama judge who unlawfully jailed hundreds of poor people, many of them Black, over traffic fines.

Think about it. The very people who control the fate of people in court, criminal or civil, get away with crimes themselves.  Even more prevalent, to the point of being common, judges violate their ethical rules without so much as anyone batting an eye. 

How is this possible? There are several reasons. One is because most people just do not have the time or ability to dig into the often cryptic rules and laws our legal system is supposed to follow. Another is that attorneys are very good at using "con man" speak to cover up their malfeasance. On the job training for lawyers is often  more about how to get around the law than how to follow it. 

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