Commentary on the degradation of Jurisprudence in Modern America
by Edwin L. Young, PhD

In American Jurisprudence, love of ‘the law’ has become divorced from love of justice.

The letter of the law has killed the spirit of the law.

Loyalty to the system and institutions of justice has sacrificed the welfare of the people.

The worship of precedence in the law has blinded the law to the principles and discoveries of science. The one exception is forensic science which is the handmaiden of the law.

The price of the administration of justice has become more costly than the cost of crime.

The administrators of the law have become the servants of the rich.

The scales of justice have been tipped, by the practices of lawyers and courts, toward inequities in social justice and socio-economic status.

The American court system is now incapable of conforming to its model as described in the US Constitution.

The status of poverty predisposes the court to regard defendants as guilty until proven innocent rather than vice versa.

TV crime dramas perpetuate an extremely an exaggerated and distorted image of the majority of criminals that prevents rational reform of criminal law, police practices, and corrections.

The majority of inmates in prisons have one or more of the following limitations or infirmities: they came from families that were broken, dysfunctional, had members with seriously debilitating diseases or addictions, or that were impoverished; from homes that were abusive; or from ghetto-like neighborhoods with extremely high crime rates. Most have a very limited education; many are physically handicapped; have very poor health; have diabetes; have addictions; are in the mentally retarded range of intelligence; and many have brain damage. Most were raised without parental instruction in the minimum social skills or living skills. Most inmates are only employable for unskilled labor or minimally skilled labor and cannot make a living wage. Parolees are discriminated against by employers.

The various types of criminal behavior patterns are included in the classifications of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual but are virtually excluded from access to treatment by mental health professionals. By any standard, incarcerated individuals do not receive psychological treatment.

Prisons are schools for crime that result in an escalation in criminal acts on post-release.

Devotion to this antiquated and costly justice system siphons off funds for positive programs which, with adequate resources, would do much to prevent crime, imprisonment, and recidivism.

America’s cultural Zeitgeist of violence and social control by punishment is by far the greatest perpetrator of criminal behavior.

The time for reform of all parts of the justice system is long over due.

Politicians cannot get elected if they advocate rational reforms of the justice system. This is the most serious problem of all.

Pass this on please.