Voir Dire-noun LAW-a preliminary examination of a witness or a juror by a judge or counsel.
The Constitution was written with the ideals of protecting the little man whether it is from big government, a corrupt legal system, or any imperfection. Of course, times change and we must add to our Constitution. The question is whether our judicial system is imperfect and if so can we still trust in its integrity? Is the system broken? Or merely working and striving to keep the nation fair and balanced? After watching 12 Angry Men do things like Voir Dire and the 6th amendment protect the little man?
Does the process of Voir Dire guarantee an unbiased jury? Of course not, and here’s why, we like to think that we are pretty fair and balanced and if you’ve seen the movie as mentioned above we find that we hold bias whether it be against the young generation or where you grew up. The fact of the matter is, Voir Dire doesn’t live up to its objective. If you’ve ever watched Family Guy there’s an episode in which Peter takes advantage of the Voir Dire process to get out of jury duty by pretending to be a racist and the truth is people do take advantage of the system. Our next question is can any jury truly be impartial and if so why? Well, anything is possible and I believe it’s possible to get a whole jury of Henry Fonda’s, people who don’t hold bias and are willing to look at the evidence at the same time it’s possible your whole jury is completely biased against you, willing to send you to prison simply because you are you.
The 6th Amendment to the Constitution entitles everyone to the right to a public defender. Obviously my next point is about whether or not a public defender can provide an adequate defense and I’d say yes and no. While there is corruption is the legal system and some Public Defender’s are terrible and don’t provide an adequate defense there are those who do. It’s simply luck of the draw and it shouldn’t be that way but it is. In To Kill A Mockingbird for example, Atticus Finch he plays the role of a public defender and defends Tom Robinson who is African American. My answer to this question as to whether or not you get an adequate defense with a public defender is fence post yes and no. Money, Money, Money, does it buy you everything? I would certainly say money does buy you a defense. If you have the paper you can convince a jury you didn’t kill someone even when your fingers prints are all over the weapon.
The symbol of justice is often depicted as a woman holding balanced scales. Just like the scales of Justice, balanced and fair. While many feel it isn’t a fair and balanced justice always finds its way onto the scene. Honestly, I put 90 percent trust in our judicial system, now it seems crazy but I honestly believe everyone gets their justice. Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, Bill Clinton, James Comey (just to name a few) all of them will face justice one day! Maybe not now and not later but one day justice will come swift like a thief in the night. The system is only broken when people do not like the outcome of cases like with the Trayvon Martin case, Michael Brown case, and Casey Anthony case. Our justice system is the only one of its kind; it is the only one in existence that can objectively determine justice. It is one in which who you are doesn’t matter; your age, sex, and race do not determine verdicts in our system! While in some instances unfair verdicts are issued because of these factors it is unlikely because of the tremendous strides our country has taken to progress and this is why ultimately I trust the American Justice System!
