The American justice system is a really amazing idea, and it works most of the time. By that I mean that criminals normally go to jail, and innocent people normally do not go to jail, and people's rights are not usually abused. But nothing is perfect. Not only are mistakes made, but some features of the whole system invite and cause mistakes and abuses. I would like to comment upon the American justice system, and see what issues come up here.

The truth: The courts do not want juries to know what the truth is, they want juries to know some of the truth, the admissible evidence. You are innocent, and the police beat a confession out of you. This confession is inadmissable, and will be suppressed. Should it be suppressed? Or should it be admitted, along with the court's assurances that it was obtained by violence (or threats of some kind), and let the jury decide what value to place on the confession? If a criminal has prior arrests (but not convicted) for an identical crime, this fact is often inadmissible. Should it be? The jury is not told the truth regardless. Someone else hears the truth, and decides that it is none of the jury's business. I don't know what is right, here. If you don't allow coerced confessions, then presumably the police will not use coercion. Of course, the police are not Nazi storm troopers, and do not normally beat up suspects. But sometimes they do. And we have to prevent that sort of thing. Lie detector tests are not normally admissable evidence. Should they be admitted, with the court's explanation of just why such tests are controversial?

Legally guilty or actually guilty: The courts do not prove your guilt or innocence. In general, this is not possible. The courts deal with "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." A jury (and sometimes a judge) is asked to decide if they really are sure that you are guilty. Normally this works well. But once you are found legally guilty (but perhaps innocent), the government seems to mistake legal guilt for actual guilt. The government is interested in keeping you in prison (and maybe putting you to death), and will usually not listen to any evidence or reasoning which may say that you are innocent. I suppose, you cannot expect prosecutors to actively try to shoot down their own successful convictions. But some part of the government should be actively trying to identify and clear innocent people, after they have been convicted.

Discrimination: Blacks are convicted of some crimes much more often than are whites. And they get longer prison terms. Are they guilty more often? Is this effect entirely a result of the fact that more blacks are in poverty? Rich people are seldom convicted of crimes, and seldom get long prison terms.

Eyewitness identification: Criminal justice depends heavily upon eyewitness identification of criminals. It has been shown hundreds of times that eyewitness evidence is in general very poor. Witnesses in general cannot identify the color of your clothes, what you are carrying, the color of your hair, etc. They cannot identify you. They will point at you, in court, and say he/she did it. But sometimes they can identify you. That is what lineups are for, to verify whether the witness can identify the criminal or not. If the witness can pick the person that the police already suspect of being the criminal out of a fair (it can certainly be unfair in a number of ways) lineup, then that is strong corroboration of the identification.

Plea bargaining: Making a deal, a guilty plea (perhaps on lesser charges) in exchange for a lesser sentence is necessary with the overworked courts; the existing courts do not have enough time to try everyone charged of crimes.

Your Miranda rights: You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to the presence of an attorney. If you do not have an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Etc. It is much harder to get a conviction if the suspect demands a lawyer and will not talk to the police. Should everyone know that he/she has these rights? I think so. It certainly tends to prevent abuses like beating or otherwise coercing confessions out of people.