- Big Dogs Weblog - https://www.onebigdog.net -

Repairing the Judicial System

While attention was focused on so many critical issues in the State of the Union speech last night, one area President Bush addressed seems to be getting little notice or press coverage. Major problems exist within our Judicial system. It’s high time an administration dealt with them proactively.

Frankly, I can’t understand why more politicians and the general public aren’t more concerned. Our political system is based on three branches of government. One of these is in obvious need of repair. The Judicial system has become misused, overused and subverted for both political and pecuniary gains. It is the job — the duty — of the other two branches to correct the imperfections and strengthen the system.

GWB outlined a comprehensive plan for overhauling the Judicial system:

  • Terminate legislation from the bench;
  • Enact major tort reform, including frivolous lawsuits, class action suits,and medical malpractice;
  • Expand the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful conviction in death penalty cases;
  • Create a special fund to provide competent lawyers for low-income defendants.
  • While the last two may seem like entitlement issues to some, they are not. They go to the core philosophy of our judicial system: equal justice for all under the law. We have increasingly become a country where the affluent get a better form of justice than the indigent. This was clearly not the intent of the crafters of our Constitution.

    With Social Security reform and Iraq in the foreground, Judicial reform may not be considered a high-profile topic — even though its condition is so vital to our democracy and economy. So, I applaud GWB for acknowledging these issues and making them an important part of his agenda. Hopefully, Congress will share his desire to fix that which is broken.