Conrad Black on the u.s. Justice system

[WestCoastRunner]

Conrad Black has spoken out and written many commentaries on the u.s. Justice system ranging from prisoners rights to jail conditions and the dysfunction of plea bargaining.

He goes on to discuss how the Canadian system is falling into a similar pattern.

For example he states ".The familiar facts need not be over-emphasized: The United States has 5% of the worlds people, 25% of its incarcerated people, and50% of its lawyers, where legal practice requires serious professional formation. The U.S. legal profession takes 10% of GDP, $1.8 trillion. There are 48 million convicted felons in the U.S. population, the country has 6-12 times as many incarcerated people per capita as Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. American prosecutors win 99.5% of their cases, 97% without trials, numbers rivalled, if at all, only by North Korea."

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com//full-comment/conrad-black-americas-correctional-system-is-utterly-disgraceful-and-ours-seems-to-be-heading-in-that-direction

A closer examination needs to be called upon to analyze these prosecutorial wins. Perhaps they have to do with them moving up in the legal profession and nothing at all to do with the rights of the charged felon.

Edited May 3, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[cybercoma]

Conrad Black. smh

He has a point, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't take him too seriously. His conviction was not wrongful by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, people of his ilk are rarely prosecuted and when they are, rarely convicted. He got the short straw and is now complaining about it. Welcome to how the other half (more like 99%) lives.

[bush_cheney2004]

Conrad Black ? Just another convicted felon trying to make money with a pity-pot book. He should have stayed in Canada if he wanted leniency and ass-kissing short sentences.

[Big Guy]

I think Conrad Black is a brilliant historian and a very intelligent individual. His books are not only best sellers but are used as resources by academics. Where Black goes wrong is in his personal philosophy of entitlement. I think that he is a genius but unfortunately lacking in character and morals.

Even as a student at Upper Canada College he showed exceptional ability and exceptional lack of character. I had both the privilege and the misfortune to have known him. I do not share his political philosophy but would never underestimate his ability to analyse and evaluate.

[WestCoastRunner]

I understand that this is the reaction to be expected towards Contrad Black, but you can't underestimate his thoughts on the u.s. prison system. He has some highly intelligent analysis to offer.

[bush_cheney2004]

A lot of convicted felons are experts in their field. So "intelligent"....

Edited May 4, 2015 by bush_cheney2004

[WestCoastRunner]

A lot of convicted felons are experts in their field. So "intelligent"....

You have no idea who Conrad Black is.

[WestCoastRunner]

Conrad Black. smh

He has a point, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't take him too seriously. His conviction was not wrongful by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, people of his ilk are rarely prosecuted and when they are, rarely convicted. He got the short straw and is now complaining about it. Welcome to how the other half (more like 99%) lives.

What he is trying to do and if you follow his columns, you will see that he is trying to address the issues in the u.s. prison system and how it is affecting our system. Perhaps he is making amends. Who knows. I am by nature, an optimist and I like to give folks a second chance and the benefit of the doubt.

Edited May 4, 2015 by WestCoastRunner

[On Guard for Thee]

You have no idea who Conrad Black is.

Ideas are not particularly necessary to trolls I guess.

[bush_cheney2004]

You have no idea who Conrad Black is.

He is just another multiple ex-pat Canadian who committed crimes in my country....boo hoo.

Edited May 4, 2015 by bush_cheney2004

[On Guard for Thee]

We likely all know of the huge profits that flow to private contractors that basically run the US prison system. What scares me is that Im sure Harper is well aware of it as well, and privatization is probably in his thought pattern. He seems to be trying to head that way with health care as well. Lets not let him corrupt two very important systems.

[bush_cheney2004]

If Canada needs a two-faced traitor and convicted felon to save itself, then it is already a lost cause.

[On Guard for Thee]

If Canada needs a two-faced traitor and convicted felon to save itself, then it is already a lost cause.

Didnt you have someone similar as president a while back...must be a really lost cause there.

[Topaz]

Too bad his last name wasn't Bush, then he wouldn't have to worry, or maybe Clinton. The elite never go to jail, they just make the rules.

[bush_cheney2004]

Conrad Black thought he was elite, until he got smacked real good by the "U.S. justice system".

Now he is just another convicted felon.

[WestCoastRunner]

Fareed Zakaria: "His lessons are worth taking seriously, since they come from a friend of America and a die-hard conservative," Zakaria writes.

"Black cites the plea-bargain system in America for its 95 percent conviction rate compared to 60 percent in Canada and 50 percent in Great Britain.

American prosecutors aren't that much better than their counterparts in other countries, Zakaria writes, but, quoting Black, says they instead using bullying tactics that would get them "disbarred in most other serious countries, (and which) enables prosecutors to threaten everyone around the target with indictment if they don't miraculously recall, under careful government coaching, inculpatory evidence."

[Big Guy]

To WestCoastRunner - Thank you for posting part of Fareed's opinion editorial. Mr. Zakaria is my most reliable source for the impartial reporting on the Middle East problems. He also has a unique insight into domestic issues and choses appropriate guests for his show.

[Je suis Omar]

Conrad Black thought he was elite, until he got smacked real good by the "U.S. justice system".

As you likely were "educated" in the USA, I have to assume that there is a small to negligible chance that you understand how quotation marks are used.

Now he is just another convicted felon.

Pointing fingers like that is simply another dandy example of American hypocrisy.

"By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations."

"If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged."

-- Noam Chomsky

Edited May 9, 2015 by Je suis Omar

[Je suis Omar]

Fareed Zakaria: "His lessons are worth taking seriously, since they come from a friend of America and a die-hard conservative," Zakaria writes.

"Black cites the plea-bargain system in America for its 95 percent conviction ...

The "rule of law" in the USA!