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Newly released body camera footage shows Arrest of Bernad Kersh the schizophrenic man who, police say, spat in an officer’s face before he was body-slammed to sidewalk.
Police were giving Kersh a ticket for drinking on the corner of 79th and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The officer who performed the body slam, Jerald Williams, is an MMA fighter. Kersh who suffers from schizophrenia, was initially charged with aggravated battery of peace officer, misdemeanor counts of assault and resisting arrest, as well as a count of drinking alcohol in public. Officer Williams was relieved of his police duties. A second officer also had his police powers stripped.
Overcriminalization of America
By: Fred Eghobor Civil society flourishes when its people – young or old, black or white or brown – can trust that justice will be dispensed without fear or favor. The American criminal justice system presently is broken, and an example of justice run amok. The system has deteriorated to a point whereby innocent people are being imprisoned even with the lack of sufficient evidence. For the real criminals, punishments are often not commensurate with the crime. Presently, many non-violent offenders serve more time behind bars than murderers, rapists, and armed robbers. Consequently, the criminal justice system does more harm than good – destroying lives, shattering dreams and crushing hopes and aspirations for happiness. | |
Being the world’s largest democracy is supposed to make America a faithful steward of the fairest and finest legal system the world has ever known. However, the U.S. legal system runs counter to traditional American core values. 25% of total global prisoners reside in the U.S. even though America is only about 3% of the world’s population. About 7 million are now under some form of penal supervision, and roughly 100 million people have criminal records.
Presently, the U.S. lead the world in highest prison population, longest prison time, most business deals for contractors and lobbyists, and highest recidivism rate.
The credo of legal jurisprudence in any civilized dispensation is that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent jurisdiction. However, in the United States of America, the reverse is the case due to its misguided penal policies.
The visible signs of pain and anguish can be seen in many families devastated by the imprisonment of a loved one and the so-called respect for human rights can only be thought of in comparative terms. The lack of a guilty mind no longer matters in criminal cases in U.S. courts. As a result, the nation has drifted from the core foundations and principles on which the Union was built, which add up to one concept and one word: freedom. In the context of the nation’s criminal justice system, this "American Creed" lies in tatters.
While many of us believe that it is the responsibility of the government to punish criminals for public safety and security, and the fact that society has a right to demand punishment for wrongdoers, however, this fundamental tenet must operate within a justice system that is equal and fair. Punishment must fit the crime, and the innocent must not suffer unjustly for crimes not committed.
There is no justification for mass incarceration; it could no longer be defended morally. America needs a more rational and sensible justice system, one that is fair – a people’s justice system – that all can trust to protect them while punishing offenders appropriately and ensuring that innocent people are not unfairly prosecuted or imprisoned. Only a reformed justice system can give practical meaning to the noble ideals on which the nation was founded. A commonsense approach to the criminal justice system in American might someday be possible, but not anytime soon given the interplay of politics and business within it.
In my book, American Criminal Justice System, Inc: Rogue Criminal Prosecution in an Era of Mass Incarceration, I presented compelling arguments of how government prosecutors and their cronies use crazy laws, plea bargain, false witnesses and other unwholesome tactics to oppress its people. With so many locked up, the United States has become a nation that feeds on its own.
- This article is an excerpt from my book, American Criminal Justice System, Inc: Rogue Prosecutions in an Era of Mass Incarceration.
Author, American Criminal Justice System Inc: Rogue Prosecutions in an Era of Mass Incarceration Website: http://www.fredeghobor.com
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