Ordinary Injustice
Friday, October 02, 2009
Lawyer and journalist Amy Bach talks about the failures and systematic problems of the American criminal justice system. In her book Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court, she argues that because the people affected tend to be poor or minorities, they are often overlooked, and because problems are so pervasive they’ve become invisible to defenders, prosecutors, and judges.
Guests:
Amy Bach
About The Leonard Lopate Show
Host Leonard Lopate lets you in on the best conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.
Hosted by Leonard Lopate
Sign up for the Book Club e-newsletter.
Features
- 2010 Tony Award Winners
- 25 Years of Lopate
- AIDS: Then & Now
- Backstory
- Guest Hosts
- Guest Picks
- How Did Politics in America Get So Weird?
- Please Explain
- Summer Stuff
- The Big Picture
- The Gurus of How-To
- The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club
- The Lodown
- The Word Maven: Patricia T. O'Conner
- Tributes
- Underappreciated
- Underreported
- Web Extras
Show Archive
Show Archive
Comments [7]
Paula re: your last sentence...wow.
Amy has done a very extraordinary justice by reporting on this topic. I was a social worker at a maximum security jail and worked very closely with inmates who were trying to cope with the whole court system as well as their own psychological, psychiatric, family and financial problems. The poor young blacks were mostly encouraged by their legal aid lawyers to plead guilty while those white young men whose families could afford private attorneys, went to trial. I will never forget a particular young white male who, after his murder trial verdict came back "not guilty", sat in my ofice and said "I just got away with murder".
I have a friend in jail who is there becuase he could not get the right meds for his depression. His wife tried for 6 months to get help from social services, to no avail. He had a psychotic episode, attacked his wife and child (neither were hurt although the press had a field day) and now he has been in for 4 months with no idea what will happen next.
Even with your own attorney, it is just a crap shoot to get "justice." It's NOT about justice. It's what the guest says, routine, being buddies, and keeping your mouth shut.
We have been misled by happy-ending movies & TV to believe that in the end, truth will out. That is such a fantasy and so far from the Kafaesque world of the courts. This is true in civil courts as well as criminal.
Some judges are sooo arrogant, and act as if they are running a business for their own benefit, instead of serving the public.
Shameful.
The guest is totally right. I saw this first hand in the Bronx County Court. The Machine just grinds people through it. Unless you have your own attorney, you're screwed with a public defender.
our courts are there to protect property not people
Amy
Could you address the issue of privatized prisons. The whole idea seems at odds to me: we want to reduce prison populations and recidivism, but the only way for a company to increase profits is to increase sales - ie, have more prisoners.
Also, please address the issue of free prison labor for for-profit corporations like L'Oreal.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.