Final Courtroom Scene – And Justice For All – IOTW Report

Final Courtroom Scene – And Justice For All

Thursday, 2 November 2023, 10:05 BFH Uncategorized 8

Justice is kind of a thing that feels like it’s in the balance these days… well, imbalance.

8 Comments on Final Courtroom Scene – And Justice For All

  6. This was an entertaining film, but I would recommend to anyone who cares a movie starring Michael Douglas called “The Star Chamber.” This is a film about a group of judges who meet in secret and order the execution of any defendant they believe has “beaten” the judicial system.

    Our system of justice is the adversarial system. One party, in this case the prosecutor, presents the best case her or she can and the other party, in this case Al Pacino’s defense lawyer, presents the best case he can in order to defeat the charges. The theory behind the adversarial system is that by presenting these cases from different perspectives, the truth will emerge and justice will be done.

    Does this system work? Most of the time it does, but sometimes a guilty party goes free. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the adversary system is terrible, and the only thing worse is the other methods of justice in use.

    A “star chamber” system is much worse. Think of it this way – do you want a judge appointed by Obama unilaterally deciding the fate of Donald Trump if Trump is not permitted to present his defense? Judges frequently pre-judge cases without hearing any evidence, and the only effective counter to this is having the jury decide the matter.

    Every system can be abused or gamed. Frequently, the role of a criminal defense attorney is not necessarily to obtain an acquittal – sometimes that is impossible – but to make sure constitutional protections are followed and judicial/prosecutorial abuses are curbed. The OJ Simpson trial notwithstanding, there are actually very few instances where guilty defendants go scot-free.

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