As I read through some of the interviews used in this book, I couldn’t help but find myself identifying with some of their accounts. I have been before, with and against the law before myself, and in general, I have not been a particular fan of the dealings I have gone through. I have found flaws in the system.
One character I identified with was Millie Simpson. In her case, she found the justice system to be disorganized and unaware of her predicament. She was forced to return to court a total of three times in order to clear herself of fraudulent charges. The 2nd time appeared to be the most disenfranchising, when her public defender never showed and she found that judge that was presiding over the case “acted like he didn’t know why I was even back there.” He then proceeded to punish her to the full extent of the law, even though he seemed largely unaware of the facts her case.
I found the same sort of disorganized justice here in Ithaca. I seem to keep posting about these, but late in the summer, I too was slapped with a noise violation. Knowing it would be too difficult to appeal the case, I went down to the Ithaca City Court to take a plea and knock the coming fine down to a minimum. After talking with the city prosecutor, he said he wanted to speak with the ticketing officer in order to determine the appropriate fee, and told me he would have the court adjudicate my case for another two weeks, and that I should send him an email if I hadn’t heard back from him by then.
A week and a half went by, and I didn’t hear anything, so I sent him an email inquiring as to the developments in the case, asking if he had talked to the officer and had come to a decision. The email he sent back was one of complete confusion. He had no idea to what case I was referring to in the slightest, even after I gave him my name, the ticketing officer’s name and my address. He seemed very unsure of why I was even writing to him, and I was forced to refresh his memory. Again he set the hearing to be adjudicated in another two weeks. Again I had to email him and remind him of the details of the case. This time he remembered, but still had not spoken to the officer, nor had he made a decision. In the end, I determined I had to be more persistent in my emails, and made it clear I wanted a decision soon. He stepped up his efforts, and nearly two and a half months after we received the ticket he finally gave us the minimum fine.
Like Millie, I found it rather disenfranchising, because you like to believe in general that the justice system is organized and aware of the very dealings happening in its court. But clearly in both cases, the key players in the cases, one being a judge, the other a city prosecutor, were unaware of the facts. It seems remarkable how quickly they can forget about a case, when it indeed does take up a substantial amount of time and effort just to get through some of the more mundane dealings. Millie had to appear in court three times before her case was finally settled. I was there only once, but found myself emailing and sometimes calling the city prosecutor on a weekly basis. In the end, I found myself simply feeling glad that it was over.
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4 years ago
Although I empathize with your experience, every major system in every country contains flaws. Can you really fault one of ours for following this universal criteria?
ReplyDeletePerhaps your own dealing with the prosecutor represent someone who was simply overloaded and therefore had neither the time nor energy to remember your case. Mind you, I am not saying that this is alright in any way, simply presenting an alternative view.
In Millie's case I believe something similar occurred. In a town the size of Ithaca, so many people are coming and going that unless you are a repeat player I feel as though it is more difficult for the judge, etc to remember you and the details of your case. Again, I'm not saying this is correct, just presenting a point. This same thought process can be transferred to Millie's case. Perhaps the judge simply did not remember, and through no fault of her own she wound up receiving the lack of support from the system that she did.
I think the alternative view that you present is indeed the reality in which we live, which I understand, but ultimately believe is a problem. People do make mistakes and things are lost, but we are talking about the legal justice system here. By not remembering a case and not being familiar with the facts, mistakes are made and lives are unfairly altered. The judge simply did not remember in Millie's case, as the prosecutor did not in mine, and people made mistakes. But regardless of the case, most people's dealings with the law are serious. These are people's lives that are being affected by one's oversight, and honestly, it's the repeat players jobs to be aware of the facts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I talked to the prosecutor, he had detailed notes about the incident filed by the reporting officer. Why didn't he make another note on the bottom reminding himself about the current situation of the case? When I emailed him, he had no idea what he had offered me. We talk about the importance of record and paper, and clearly, other than me reminding via email, there was not record of our conversation. I included my name, address and the name of the reporting officer in my email.Shouldn't that have been enough for him to go back and review some notes or something.
I too agree that we are all human beings, even lawyers, and that we sometimes get overwhelmed by work. And yes, systems are flawed. But this is a serious problem within the justice system, and frankly, it isn't something we should just accept. It's negligence. It's people's lives that are being screwed with because those who are supposed to be dealing with their legal situation, who are supposed to be doing there job, didn't take notes or can't remember. In Millie's case, the first time around, that led to an unfair and absolutely unnecessary ruling. it's not enough to say a judge simply forgot. You can't forget. The consequences of doing so are far too important.
I feel that there is a greater responsibility in certain positions like this. If you work in a restaurant and make a mistake or mess up, you ruin somebody's order. But when you screw up a ruling because you don't remember or even know the facts of the case, someone innocent goes to prison, or someone is unfairly punished. Judges and prosecutors have great power, and with that power, to steal a line from Spiderman, comes great responsibility. So yes, they should be held more accountable for their mistakes. They should do their jobs properly.
I think your story is very interesting and appropriate in relating it to Millie's story. It is so true that the little people lose out in our Justice System. Like Millie, you felt lost. No one would respond to you and most of the time they didn't even know what was going on. Although they probably deemed giving you the minimum fine as "lucky" in reality it is annoying and a burden. Why should you have to pay a fine for something that the system doesn't even find to be important?
ReplyDeleteMorgan, your take on it is spot on. The system is large and complicated and we have to expect flaws. Things aren't always worked out appropriately, the courts are understaffed and with an increase in laws come an increase in cases, fines, etc. I'm guessing (just a guess) that the city of Ithaca has bigger fish to fry, and thus, Caveman's noise violation case was pushed in the back. It is frustrating because the individual involved in any sort of case is sure to remember the judge and in return you hope that they will remember you and your case. Unfortunately, this is not at all the case and although any legal battle takes a big part in an individuals life, it doesn't take precedent in the judges (or lawyers for that matter as well). There are so many cases and not enough time for an individual judge to actually dedicate the necessary time needed to devote to each case....maybe Obama can add this to his economic stimulus plan...more judges to hire?? just a thought.