Legal System Thoughts

I've been thinking lately about our courts. They are supposed to be bastions of reason in a sea of bias and corruption. They are supposed to be a neutral third party, never political nor swayed by threats or incentives. It's a fantasy, I know. Judges are human, but they're supposed to be humans with wisdom and compassion that interpret the imperfect laws that the legislative branches pass. The best we can hope for is an impartial judge with integrity. I think most of us would be satisfied with that.

As I watch the news I see an alarming trend of judgments that seem to be increasingly political or driven by some force that is not justice. I see cops going free when there is overwhelming evidence against him. I see the Constitution being interpreted in ways that pervert the original intent. I see innocent men being convicted, and even if they are exonerated years later, the damage done is more than any compensation.

I guess what brought this up was a simple traffic stop article. I mean if you're ticketed and you challenge it in court and the cop shows up, you're pretty much screwed. This is what I was thinking:

1. The cop is an arm of the government.
2. The judge is an arm of the government.
3. If there is just the cop's and your testimony then they should cancel out and you shouldn't have to pay any fines.
4. Since the judge is an arm of the government, he gives more weight to the cop's testimony, so that means there is bias.
5. If the accused has a right to a fair trial, then the judge, as an arm of the government should make an effort to be biased towards your testimony. If you're innocent until proven guilty then there needs to be more effort by the cop to prove your guilt.

Now if we take this and move it from traffic infraction to Constitutional dispute, then we can see that the Supreme Court should not be trusted. It's already obvious that they are influenced by politics! My fellow citizens at the 10th Amendment Center make a good point that it should be up to the states to decide what is or isn't Constitutional especially if the federal government has disregarded it.

I'm probably missing something here that some pre-law student could point out. I'll have to discuss this with one of my lawyer or paralegal friends. How about instead of state-licensed judges that are arguably in the pocket of the government, there are private judges. A company could hire judges, the two parties could contract a judge for a decision, and at the end both parties could rate him. That way there aren't any questions of bias, the judge truly is impartial and the ratings ensure that judgments serve justice and provide an outcome that is satisfactory.