"...And Justice for All"
Bradley M. Lott
Copyright 2020 by Bradley M. Lott
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.
Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
832 Park Avenue
Meadville, PA 16335
www.christianfaithpublishing.com
Illustrations by Kristin C. Anderson
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
This book is dedicated to my parents, Bradley and Dorothy who instilled in me an unwavering sense of integrity and social justice through their own example and daily teachings.
Introduction
Societal Flaws Make for Divisive Consequences!
For too long, I have watched the evening news with depressing results. I have complained about this 24/7, recycled chatter, without stepping up and offering to do something about it. Our divisive societal flaws are regurgitated over and over, with only some superficial facts changing in the story. Beginning at the highest levels of our government, the misbehavior, criminal behavior, deceptive behavior, and self-serving behavior are all apparent in a moments review of the current social landscape. Where does one begin to understand what this all means? Each news outlet has a different opinion and spinmaybe thats part of the problem. Do we actually need to be told what to think? And who is going to tell usthe dressed-for-attention announcer whose principal qualifications are good speech and, of course, good looks?
I began to look at the commonalities of the stories, be they financial, legal, political, or otherwise. In addition to the obvious reporting commonalities, I found another deeper commonality, and I wanted to know more about the why. I inadvertently stumbled upon the who as well. This all came during a period of years when I had the unfortunate experience of divorce, robbery, and a substance abuse case against a family memberall involving the justice system. I dont want this book to be read as a tragedy; rather, I would like for my personal revealed experiences be anecdotal evidence and a step toward my more general observations across a much wider swath of the ills of our societyall with a common root cause.
We all have some level of preconceived beliefs, bias, and prejudice. I am no different and this writing may show that I have a soft spot for those who cannot fend for themselves and a disdain for those who seek to take advantage of the weak. But I believe that I am in good company with the vast majority of people in this great nation who believe the same. My intent is not to pick a fight over any specific issue; rather, my intent is to draw attention to and encourage a call to action in solving a problem of untruthfulness which leads to injustice in all aspects of our society. I dont profess any expertise in this area, and I am offering mostly anecdotal evidence drawn from personal experiences. That leaves my work open for valid criticism and I understand that. Nonetheless, if it will initiate discussion that leads to action, mission accomplished. Truth and justice must prevail. Justice through truth must become the cornerstone of our new view of society.
There are some parts of the Constitution, the Preamble, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Bill of Rights that we all remember from having to accomplish the rote memorization in civics class. Of import to this writing are: We the people, One nation under God, and, And justice for all. These three simple phrases from our important national documents impact our lives daily.
In looking at the issues reported daily, I noted quickly that We the people were routinelyabsent. The issues are all about the special interest groups and the corresponding government or corporate bureaucrats. Where are the people on these issues, and why are we not energized to influence the action according to what we the people want? I was equally struck by the issues as having a basis in not just the touted rule of law, but in basic human decencythe kind that we learned about in Sunday school as children!
The Founders certainly envisioned the nation as being one nation under God and all that that simple phrase implies!
Lastly, and all too often, I hear the fairness of justice being questioned. I think that this is the most prevalent common denominator in the evening news and the one that causes the most personal pain to our fellow citizenswe, the people! Justice in all sectors of society is a distant hope as untruthfulness dominates the process in those sectors.
We will look at some social issues and see if we can confirm a common denominator as to a root cause or at least a thread of commonality of aggravating conditions. From the initial contact with the justice system, through public servant misbehavior, and all the media, business experiences, and political rhetoric, the common thread seems to be untruthfulness.
Most of us, as parents, have had to ferret out who really had the toy first because each child had a version of the story. Life is no different, except that we are all honest and have all learned to tell the truthif you believe that, there is a lawyer out there who can spin your story as a carved in stone footnote to the Ten Commandants and do so with a straight face! Bring cash.
I posit that lawyers are that common denominator in the foundation of untruthful behavior and that their propensity to lie is what creates many of the inequalities in our society, especially those dominated by lawyers. Lawyers are trained to an adversarial system where a zealous advocacy in a case may, probably will, include weaving a story that is essentially false from crafted facts that may be true. In social parlancea lie. In a lawyers worldjust advocating for his client. Please understand that this is the bread and butter of the profession of lawlawyers dont get paid to find truth or to achieve justice, they get paid to advocate and win for their client regardless of the cost. And that includes prosecutors, corporate, government, and personal lawyers.
At the core of the adversarial system, is the quest for victory and that alone seems to supersede the quest for truth and justice. Katherine Kruse wrote in an essay for the Nevada Law Journal that the legal profession might be plagued by excessive lawyerly zeal that diverts lawyers away from the multiple dimensions of clients problems and larger questions of justice: winning at all costs serves the financial and reputational interests of lawyers .
An argument presented by Judge Simon H. Rifkind, as presented in The Lawyers Role and Responsibility in Modern Society , states, In actual practice the ascertainment of the truth is not necessarily the target of the trial, [and] that values other than truth frequently take precedence. If the cost of representation doesnt preclude justice, then the necessity of victory surely will. Lawyers are not obligated to reveal what they know about the facts even if those facts would assure justicethey can withhold evidence in the interest of winning! That is what gives lawyers a very cloudy, self-defined concept of client confidentiality that all too often resembles the concealing of facts that might otherwise lead to justice! Professor John Humbach wrote in his review of An Affair of State by Richard Posner that there is a serious discrepancy that exists between the standards of honesty that lawyers apply to themselves and those that the public expects of honest people in general and of a legitimate system of law in particular.
