Americans are why the Judiciary has allowed the Constitution to dangle by a thread
By Quinton Bradley Smith
These days, you can’t get into a conversation about media bias without someone sounding off about the First Amendment. You can’t even mention gun control without being radically accosted by “the Second Amendment this” or “the Second Amendment that.” But that is where it ends. It seems that most people do not know that those are just two of 27 Amendments that have been added to the U.S. Constitution.
I do not know much about it myself, but are the First and Second Amendments America’s favorite two political talking points or the only ones we know about? I honestly want to know: Are we ignorant or selective in our limited fervor regarding this all-protecting document? Don’t we understand that this document was built by our forefathers to safeguard American democracy? Do we care?
What about the Fifth Amendment? Does that not matter to us, or do we not know about them? If someone was facing criminal charges for actions that should fall within the protection of the establish guidelines set by the First or Second Amendment, how will they be protected when it matters if we as a collective society are apathetic toward the Fifth Amendment?
A few months ago, a letter to the editor by Ed Stewart concerning the common person’s plight in America was published by this paper. Mr. Stewart countered, in writing, those he called the “Elites.” Adding to that concept, I wish to argue why understanding the U.S. Constitution is so important to common Americans.
The reason why we all need to better understand the U.S. Constitution is because the Judiciary that was originally tasked to balance the other two branches of government by protection it, has been financially corrupted.
The Judiciary is broken, and I can provide arguments to support that statement.
My first argument is why I’m submitting this as an opinion piece.
I’m just a person and a very imperfect one at that. I may be wrong about my statements here because while writing this, I realized I also know very little about the U.S. Constitution. Maybe Americans are not so ignorant. Maybe I am the foolish one. Maybe it is idiotic for me to continue to honor our great Constitution when the courts don’t seem to honor it anymore. Maybe our rights are just like Santa — in that only the youngsters still believe they exist while the wise and elderly just sluggishly move along, expressing the common adage, “Life isn’t meant to be fair.” But should I not get to have a voice when it matters? Isn’t that what the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights is meant to protect? My freedom of speech. Does that only mean from on top of a soapbox on the street?
Even if I’m wrong, shouldn’t I have the right to express these beliefs if ever I find myself charged with a crime and financially unable to obtain legal counsel? What happens if my public defender will not return my calls or my emails or provide me with the evidence against me? Even if I am grievously misinformed about my rights or have horrendously misinterpreted the U.S. Constitution, shouldn’t I be able to air these complaints in court and be told why I am wrong?
The fact is that I am not able to. We are not able to.
That is why you are reading this here and no one is hearing it in a courtroom. The Judiciary has failed all of us, because none us are allowed to know our rights — unless we can afford it. None of us get real council — unless we can afford it. We don’t get justice anymore — unless we can afford it.
What about civil litigation? Has anyone faced a divorce? Does anyone believe that the merits they possess as an able and loving parent depend on the price of their attorney? Is it not obvious to all of us that the amount we spend on council is directly related to how the court will view us as a parent? At what point does what we spend on legal fees become a ransom or a bribe to the “Elites” that make up the Judiciary? The court clearly considered the amount paid for council in their rulings; and to me, at least, that’s wrong.
Am I ignorant? Or are wealthy people not capable of being bad parents? The Judiciary fails us because there is a dollar amount that offsets otherwise immovable facts. A public defender has never gotten a client off from a capital charge with the affluenza plea.
Maybe I am ignorant to why the U.S. Constitution was created. But I am not so ignorant to overlook the fact that a lot us don’t have much empathy for “criminals” who require state-provided attorneys. I know the arguments against my statements. I knew the arguments against my statements here before I understood that the judiciary is failing to provide the balance it was meant to, before it was clear to me that the Courts are failing to protect the US Constitution. These arguments are, “If you don’t like the system, don’t do the crime,” “There are too many criminals to provide adequate representation for every lowlife,” “I don’t care if my tax dollars aren’t enough to provide you an attorney,” and so on.
Knowing that, I’ll end with this: Even if the only two features of the U.S. Constitution that Americans care about or are aware of are the First and Second Amendments, it’s only a matter of time before the Judiciary’s love affair with the “Elites” uses the impoverished as the weak spot in the wall and allows those two rights, which most still care about, to erode away the same as the rest the U.S. Constitution has.
And when the First and Second Amendments are also gone, there will be no getting them — or the rest of this wonderful and powerful document — back.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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