tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20330305.post114384116474996415..comments2023-06-01T05:50:44.215-07:00Comments on A CiviL Union: "The Best Justice Money Can Buy"Karl Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718050091013713562noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20330305.post-1146986677051910972006-05-07T00:24:00.000-07:002006-05-07T00:24:00.000-07:00geminiwave,You raise a number of good points and I...geminiwave,<BR/><BR/>You raise a number of good points and I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts. To the overarching criticism, that is is not just a flaw of the legal system but a flaw of society, you are, of course, correct. Freedom often comes at the expense of egalitarianism. What I advocate for is not necessarily a a legal system devoid of capitalism (though that may be an ideal end, it is hardly a realistic one), but instead a <B>more</B> egalitarian legal system. I think on some level everyone recognizes the shortcoming of the legal system where the wealthy are far more likely to avoid convictions in circumstances where a poor person would be convicted. The question, I suppose, is what do we do about it?<BR/><BR/>In my post, I discussed the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, enabling those desire to work in the public interest to have their loans forgiven. That's a start. Offering greater funding to public defenders and, in some counties, completely <A HREF="http://aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=302" REL="nofollow">restructuring the public defense system</A> would also be a significant step forward. But I'm not sure that's enough. I don't know the status of it, but there has been talk in the ABA in the past decade about providing public defenders in some civil cases, for let's face it, losing a law suit that bankrupts you certainly deprives you of liberty in a very real way. An individual needs counsel in such an instance. <BR/><BR/>There are three examples of methods to "tweak" the current system of justice to make it more egalitarian without doing anything terribly drastic. It's certainly not a complete list and as I ponder it further, I may do future posts on the subject. I'd love your thoughts.Karl Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718050091013713562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20330305.post-1146195520811159262006-04-27T20:38:00.000-07:002006-04-27T20:38:00.000-07:00See, here's the thing, is Alex didn't write this p...See, here's the thing, is Alex didn't write this piece, I did. If this is just a general attempt to malign Alex, at least find one of his posts. If this is attempt to malign me, go fuck yourself. :-)Karl Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718050091013713562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20330305.post-1146176084400660562006-04-27T15:14:00.000-07:002006-04-27T15:14:00.000-07:00God you disgust me, Alex.God you disgust me, Alex.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com