The main focus of the Tea Party movement is on the legislative branch of the federal government. It wants to roll back the power and spending of the federal government to more reasonable, sustainable levels.
We could use a similar movement to take on the legal system.
In the Tucson shooting, there is tremendous evidence against the shooter. Countless witnesses, including those who captured him at the scene — almost literally red-handed. Tons of physical evidence that he planned the whole thing out. Hell, there are even several videos of the shooting that apparently show clearly that he was the gunman, it was utterly unprevoked, and in no way an accident. In brief, one of the clearest, simplest, open-and-shut cases imaginable.
So, naturally, legal experts say it could take years to settle.
OK, I’ll grant one aspect of the delays. There are going to be two cases against the shooter — the federal case and the state case. The shooter’s primary focus was the assassination of Congresswoman Giffords, and three other federal employees were killed. In those situations, the federal government takes precedence.
But three other people were killed, and a dozen more wounded. They weren’t federal employees, so the responsibility of rendering justice for them lies on the state of Arizona.
But there’s no reason why the two sets of authorities can’t work things out. In many other cases of multiple jurisdictions, the two sides have come to terms. In some cases, one side will defer its prosecution. In some cases, they will defer their prosecution ring indefinitely, leaving the charges hanging over the head of the accused until the other side has concluded its process — trial, conviction, and sentence.
That makes a certain amount of sense. If the feds, say, win a conviction and get a death sentence — or even a life sentence — then there really is no point in the state trying the suspect. And should the guy manage to beat the federal charges, then the state can step in and press its case.
But apart from that, what the hell is the delay? What is there to settle? What is there to discover?
There is no rational reason for more than a couple of months of delay. And when something this irrational develops, especially in the legal system, then there’s only one inescapable conclusion. No ordinary people could be bogging up the system. No crazy person is causing the slowdown. Hell, no cabal of lunatics could cook this up. No, to wreak this kind of havoc takes the highly-trained minds of lawyers.
Lawyers who have hijacked and taken over the legal system for their own benefit, to keep the ordinary citizens shut out and dependent on lawyers for their needs. Lawyers who have so needlessly complicated the legal system that a case like the Tucson shooter could — and probably will — take years to settle.
That just ain’t right.
