Like most horrible institutions in America like the Senate and the Constitution, we still have it in the minds of the people because we've always had it and the way the US government is is perfect because America is the best. The real reason we have all this bad stuff is that it serves the interests of capital that we have it.
I mean shall we start with the fact it's an unscreened unrepresentative jury, denies right to counsel, denies right to confront and cross examine, is not open to media scrutiny, can force the presentation of self incriminating evidence under threat of prison, can present evidence unconstitutionally obtained, is often used to intimidate and imprison without proper trial, doesn't accomplish its stated role of preventing malicious charges and in fact excaberates it, and has been eliminated everywhere else except for your colony Liberia?
Arguably the larger issue is that law enforcement has so much power to force people into plea agreements instead of trials. The reason grand juries are so prosecutor-friendly is that you're supposed to have a right to a jury trial where the facts can be tested in an adversarial setting in front of people who are supposed to be skeptical of what you're being accused of. In theory, that might be reasonable.
In practice, something like 95% of criminal cases don't go to trial, and many trials don't involve a jury. Some of that is because the defendant is clearly guilty -- legitimate crimes do happen, and sometimes you get indisputable video evidence. But some of it is because the law and public perception is so tilted towards cops and prosecutors that arguably innocent defendants are bullied into plea agreements when in a perfect system they would get their day in court.
I love the news, but also the concept of a Grand Jury is abhorrent why do you still have this?
Like most horrible institutions in America like the Senate and the Constitution, we still have it in the minds of the people because we've always had it and the way the US government is is perfect because America is the best. The real reason we have all this bad stuff is that it serves the interests of capital that we have it.
What's wrong with it?
I mean shall we start with the fact it's an unscreened unrepresentative jury, denies right to counsel, denies right to confront and cross examine, is not open to media scrutiny, can force the presentation of self incriminating evidence under threat of prison, can present evidence unconstitutionally obtained, is often used to intimidate and imprison without proper trial, doesn't accomplish its stated role of preventing malicious charges and in fact excaberates it, and has been eliminated everywhere else except for your colony Liberia?
Arguably the larger issue is that law enforcement has so much power to force people into plea agreements instead of trials. The reason grand juries are so prosecutor-friendly is that you're supposed to have a right to a jury trial where the facts can be tested in an adversarial setting in front of people who are supposed to be skeptical of what you're being accused of. In theory, that might be reasonable.
In practice, something like 95% of criminal cases don't go to trial, and many trials don't involve a jury. Some of that is because the defendant is clearly guilty -- legitimate crimes do happen, and sometimes you get indisputable video evidence. But some of it is because the law and public perception is so tilted towards cops and prosecutors that arguably innocent defendants are bullied into plea agreements when in a perfect system they would get their day in court.