When I became involved with the justice system in Alaska I was under the false impression that the Constitution was still in place and our laws were based on it. I soon found out that was not true, our justice system like everything else in this "democracy" was based on money and power. It was a shock that I will never get over. I actually had a man who was the DA in a large city in California tell me I would get the amount of justice I could afford to buy in Alaska and he was not the only one to tell me that. What they meant was if I could afford to hire a really good attorney who had influence over the prosecutor and the judge I would get justice, without it I was screwed. I did not believe them to the point of not taking their advice to just leave the state which I felt was wrong. I felt that truth and justice in the end would win over lies and corruption, believing in our system of justice in my soul. I now know truth and justice are foreign to the courts, a different criteria is used. The same is true of others who believed the propaganda they were fed about this country. Many who come in contact with the courts find out how corrupt the courts are and how warped the lawyers who are functioning within this broken system are. They become traumatized by the corruption and divide between the public delusion of what the justice system is and it's reality.
While dealing with the courts a chronic illness I have had all my life flared up. Cortisol from stress causes CFS aka CFIDS, (which it seems is clearly caused by XMRV, a retrovirus) now called XAND by researchers to do what I have always called "bloom" which makes me very sick and causes me to have memory problems and other neuroimmune issues. With the PTSD I had from the workplace bullying which was made worse by contact with the corrupt courts I became severely ill. In fact I was so ill it looked like I may have had dementia for a while, which evolved to brain lesions per MRI and symptoms of multiple sclerosis. At that time I told the judge and wrote him that the court was a Kangaroo Court. They may have thought it was my illness that caused me to say that. I believe I was in a kangaroo court even more strongly now than when I was in the middle of that mess. Of course even though it was clear I was very ill they would not let me have an expert witness to explain what was going on with either the XAND or the PTSD. Instead because I spoke out they had me wrongfully arrested, tortured, denied medical care(they told me at the prison CFS/CFIDS was not a real disease), my cat starved/tortured and my possesions stolen by some acts of ommission and some of commission.
Truth means nothing in our courts, it is all about who wins at any cost(this includes the DOJ). In the case of indigent defendants who end up with so called "public defenders" not only is there no justice due to the lack of resources allotted to them while giving large amounts to the prosecutors(who have the crime labs and law enforcement on their side also), there isn't even any due process. Their defense consists of threats, lies, and paper pushing. The defendants rights are not even consciously brought into the process, yet the rights of the state are constantly bantered about. Even without elections of judges in Alaska, corporations and other interests have caused much of this. Everyone is aware of the private prison company that tried to buy it's way into Alaska. Just like every other state they had influence over legislature that was passed. They have influence over some of the powerful attorneys who will manipulate the interpretation of the law for corporations or defense of wealthy clients. These attorneys have influence over the selection of judges in Alaska. Alaska does not elect judges which at first thought rubs me the wrong way, however when judges are elected they are influenced by those who finance their campaigns like any other politician. I don't like the system we have here in Alaska because it is mainly the attorneys in the state who decide who our judges will be, the courts are supposed to represent the people, not a small elite group of people who represent their own interests to the exclusion of others. They take polls of attorneys and others who have contact with the courts and make a list of judge candidates for the governor to pick from. The best system would be one where the people could elect the judge, but since our political system is broken we would end up with even more corruption than we have now. The system used in Alaska, called The Merit System, is considered the best and least corrupt system for selecting judges. We already have judges who are influenced by corporations and politicians. Judges already have to be in the favor of a governor and the most powerful attorneys in the state to get their job. Once they get on the bench they want to stay there. There are those who disseminate information to influence the opinions of attorneys in this polling system.
What we have is already political. The question is do we want the whole process controlled by the same small group of people or have elections in which the decisions of judges are influenced by contributions from corporations? I do not like either option, both of them have problems, yet I can't come up with a better idea myself. It seems almost anything we try to do to have Democracy and Justice in this country anymore becomes corrupted. Hearings are held periodically for sitting judges in which the public is allowed to give their input, but most people do not even know about them let alone when they happen. Considering the underwhelming responses I have gotten from the Alaska Judicial Counsel I would not expect them to pay any attention to citizen testimony.
Bill Moyers as usual produces a thought provoking documentary on the subject. What will we do when he retires?
Justice for Sale
Part 1:
For the complete show go to Bill Moyers Journal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/what-are-we-bid-for-ameri_b_469335.html
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