Judicial Incompetence is Key to the lack of justice in American Justice System

When it comes to the American Justice System, as compared to other justice systems the world over, even those who care less for this system must admit that no other can ever beat it.  We know this because so many who are truly guilty and place their comfort over the comfort of their fellow man will eventually pay the price and when so many who see themselves as above the law find themselves caught by the long arm of it.  But with all good things, there will be some bad and the true difference between those who demand better and those who are content as long as they are not directly affected, are the drive to make it better.

So what do I mean when I say that judicial incompetence is the key?  Simply put, it’s those in our legal system who are poised to defend the least among us.  That public defender who is extremely new, extremely unsympathetic to those they are called to defend or just extremely bad at their job period.  Either way, this is the first thing that should be addressed when people begin to demand a review of our justice system.  I use, as examples, the over-population of jails, the growing number of innocent people now being discovered in jail and finally I site the recent revelation The Case of United States v. Reynolds Wintersmith, 93CR20024-18.

In this case Reynolds Wintersmith was 17 years old when he was convicted to life in prison for joining a drug conspiracy.  You heard that right.  In the words of the judge who presided over his case, not for “murder or severely hurting someone and not for being a recidivist, that is, a defendant who’s been convicted time and time again”.  This was his first conviction; he was a teen, a first-time offender and had no criminal record.  Granted his choice to join this drug conspiracy was not his most shining moment and something he will have to live with for the rest of his life but to make that life, literally, a prison sentence is far beyond the pail and anyone who takes a few seconds to read the whole story will come to the same conclusion I have. 

On August 3, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Fair Sentencing Act which was aimed at the disparity between those who received jail time for crack cocaine and those who received time for powder cocaine.  Everyone knows that crack cocaine sentencing was grossly unfair compared to the sentencing for powder and that the majority of those convicted of possession of crack cocaine was poor or middleclass and black.  The law was introduced by Senator Dick Durbin and was in response to the overwhelming pressure placed upon him by those within his state and district to act.  Even the Supreme Court stepped in and declared that “the imposition of a life sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide is prohibited”.  So why is this person still imprisoned and has been since 1994?  Simply put judicial incompetence.

The attorney in charge of his case should have ensured that this would not be the result and if nothing else, paved the way for appeals after the verdict which, according to the document I have, he “is being denied access to the courts”.  If this had been a death penalty case, like the Todd Willingham case in Texas and the Albert Bailey case in Georgia, would he have executed by now.  All because whoever was in charge of his case was incompetent at his/her job.  A young man sits in federal prison because some lawyer did not feel compelled to turn over every single rock, to bring to bear the Fair Sentencing Law or the Supreme Court decision Graham v Florida and do right by his/her client.  Any first year law student knows that Supreme Court decisions are winners to use as precedence to any argument but for some reason this young man still sits in jail.  At one point or another, we as a nation, must begin to ask ourselves whether reform of those who are suppose to represent the “have-nots” is the key to making our judicial system better and when will we get our fill of accepting this gross injustice of a system that cares more about lawyers relationships with each others and judges than they do about those they represent?  We deserve and should demand nothing less.