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Against the Grain

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Government attorneys have a suspicious hall-of-fame batting average when it comes to winning court cases. In fact, recent studies suggest that government achieves a winning outcome over 98% of the time in court actions -- both civil and criminal. Since no person or bureaucracy can be right 98% of the time, one has to wonder how they do it.

It is  no surprise, courts are hardly a level playing field. Defendants frequently and unfairly are getting railroaded. Although the burden of proof is government's duty and supposedly an advantage to the defendant, everything else -- especially the tactics, dirty tricks and the process itself -- overwhelmingly favors the government. Here is an A to Z glossary on what you could be facing if you ever became a snowball in the government's law enforcement and judicial hell.

 A  is for Appointed Attorney. Having a public defender on a criminal case is like having a high school football team playing the Dallas Cowboys. A public defender gets paid very little, has no money allotted for investigative work, help in jury selection or legal research. All too often a public defender is overwhelmed with too many cases. Consequently, an appointed defense attorney rarely tries cases because it is an impossible job when you are drastically and purposely under-funded. If you ever wondered why there are no rich convicts on death row, you now know why.

A is also for Asset Freeze. In recent years, civil cases brought by the government have been accompanied by asset freezes. These asset freezes are often carried out in secret before a defendant has been served with a lawsuit or has had the opportunity to respond. The defendant then has to go to court and beg for access to his or her own money for legal defense and living expenses. In virtually all cases, the courts -- being just another extension of the system -- side with government and deny or severely limit defendants' access to their own funds. This stifles an individual's ability to mount any kind of reasonable defense. The defendant has access to little or no money while the government plaintiff has access to a government treasury.

 B is for bargain, specifically Plea Bargain. In a civil case, the term may be Consent Order or Agreed Order. A huge majority of cases never make it to trial because fear makes the defendant capitulate. This fear is all too often fostered by the defendant's own attorney, who can make more money settling several cases than going to trial on one. The defendant often opts for a bargain not because of a desire to admit wrongdoing (or even because of wrongdoing), but because he or she begins to understand how the cards are stacked against them.

 B is also for bail as in bail bond. A defendant is at the mercy of the judge when it comes to bail, and bailing out of jail is very important because it is extremely difficult to significantly help in one's own defense while in custody. Disparity in bond amounts is common since defendants are subjected to the whims of a judge. In bond hearings, the prosecution often makes unsupported statements in an effort to keep a defendants bond high or deny a defendant bond all together. Denying a defendant bond or making the bond amount so high that a defendant cannot possible make bond helps ensure a quick bargain in exchange for a guilty plea.

C is for Constitutional Rights -- rights that exist in reality only on paper. The law enforcement community as a whole is very adept at conveniently skirting individual rights in the zealous pursuit of ordinary citizens. Only the most egregious cases of civil rights violations come to light after being accidentally exposed, such as the videotaped police beating of Rodney King. The Fourth Amendment in particular has taken a constant beating with "property arrests" to help support financially strapped governments, civil forfeitures on a monumental scale, search warrants dished out by rubber stamp judges on perjured testimony, and individual privacy becoming nothing more than a distant memory.

C is also for the so-called Counter-Terrorist Bill, another assault on individual Constitutional rights. This new bill gives the FBI unprecedented powers to conduct black-bag jobs on private homes, tap phone lines and rip-off private property. The government has ruled that criminal prosecution of citizens can be conducted under the all-American banner of ferreting out spies and terrorists, so that traditional Constitutional safeguards of individual rights can be adroitly side-stepped or plowed under. The Attorney General, Janet Reno, has even established a secret court in the Justice Department -- a Star Chamber, if you will -- to legalize what the founding fathers called "unreasonable search and seizure" in our Bill of Rights.

D is for Defense Attorney. A decent defense attorney is important for representation to have any shred of hope against the government in court, but very expensive to hire. The cost is usually more than the average defendant can possibly afford. This fact in and of itself puts a poor defendant at an astronomical disadvantage -- especially if a criminal defendant has to accept a court appointed attorney (see A).

E is for Exparte. Exparte means in support of one side. That one side is always the government. An Exparte Order is when a court action happens to a citizen without knowledge or ability to respond like an asset freeze. Most ordinary citizens believe that they will always get to be heard before a court will take action against them. This is simply not true.

E is also for Entrapment. Entrapment is when government police commit a crime to catch someone in a criminal act they would otherwise not do. Setting up drug deals and bribery seem to be the popular forms of entrapment.

F is for forfeiture or fine. Unless violence is involved in a case, once a defendant gets into court the real goal is to separate the defendant from their property or money. Cloaked in an abundant vocabulary of terms and legalese, the mandate is the same: grab all you can, any way you can, from the defendant.

G is for Government Justice Complex. The government justice complex consists of the lawmakers, police, the judiciary, lawyers and prisons. In 1986 800,000 people were in prison, one out of 320 Americans. In 1996 the inmate population swelled to 1.6 million, one our of every 167 Americans. And while no one disputes the need to remove violent criminals from society, it is impossible not to see that the government justice complex is in a feeding frenzy, arbitrarily manufacturing many cases at the expense of the taxpayers to justify the staggering amount of money they waste.

G is also for Grand Jury. The Grand Jury system of a group of ordinary citizens determining if an individual or group should be indicted for a crime(s) is suppose to a safeguard against vindictive prosecutors accusing innocent people of crimes. In reality, it is a one-sided parade of government witnesses and snitches presumably held in secret. Government lawyers and cops can manipulate the bored jurors into indicting almost anyone on anything. And if some how they fail to secure an indictment with the first Grand Jury, government lawyers can simple wait until the next Grand Jury convenes and start the whole charade over again.

H is for Hypocrisy. Congressional representatives routinely write themselves out of the laws they pass, granting a sort of congressional blanket immunity. In the mean time, the courts are influenced by the United States Congress to liberally interpret the law in favor of the government, and if they want pay raises, they must follow suit. Where does that leave the ordinary citizen? Without their rights and at the mercy of an unsympathetic court system.

I is for Intimidation. It is amazing of how many witnesses are intimidated into testifying, truthfully or not, for the government so they do not suffer the same fate as the defendant. Witness intimidation and coaching is a favorite government ploy.

I is also for Informants and Immunity. Informants are often granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony. Many informants are criminals that are paid by the government, thereby giving them an incentive to lie.

J is for Judge. The judge's job is to sometimes decide a case, rule on procedure and the admissibility of evidence, and dish out decisions on monetary awards or punishment. The judge's role is critical in every case. Since the judge is just another government lawyer who is an extension of the system paid by the government, how objective can a judge be? Judges are political beings that are elected or appointed. This takes money, patronization and publicity. They see the same government attorneys week in and week out. They are part of the same political circles as government attorneys. Judges like high-profile cases with glamour. This cannot possibly be of benefit to any defendant.

J is also for Jurisdiction. The government actually believes that it has jurisdiction over virtually every aspect of your life -- from how you walk your dog to when you water your lawn to what medicines you can take to save your own life. As the government's intrusive behavior expands, your once-cherished freedoms dwindle.

K is for King-Size Police State. The United States and the Soviet Union keep fighting over world-wide honors of who can imprison the greater percentage of their own population. Right now the America has a slim lead and retains the number one ranking.

L is for Laws. One can never forget that the law was written by lawyers for lawyers. Look at all the laws on the books for victimless activities. The United States is literally a law factory. How else can we possible support over 800,000 lawyers? Tacitus said it best nearly 2000 years ago: "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."

M is for Money. In nearly all court cases, the government has more money to spend then a defendant. If the government chooses, they can spend an almost unlimited amount of the taxpayer's money on expert witnesses, examination of evidence, jury selection psychologists, paid informants, depositions, investigators and lawyers. Defendants have limited resources and are automatically in a position of tremendous disadvantage as a result.

N is for Nazi tactics. Search and seizure of property without a warrants or probably cause has become commonplace on the highways and in airports. Civil forfeiture of cash and property has made this an attractive and profitable option for law enforcement. Civil forfeiture cannot possible be Constitutional. But search warrants are not difficult for the police to obtain. Judges will rubber stamp almost any kind of warrant based on the flimsiest of evidence, perjured testimony, or no evidence at all for that matter. Police will ignore the need of a search warrant in many cases, and if the issue is ever raised in court later, they will lie to cover clear violations of constitutional rights. This is nothing new. Corrupt governments throughout history had practices similar to these, Nazi Germany being the most infamous. Our founding fathers tried to protect the citizenry from abuse. Too bad our government has strayed away from our once precious guaranteed freedoms.

O is for Oh Those Rats! We all have heard about underlings in a criminal organization snitching on the bosses. Television and movies have played this up for years. This is called "rolling up." The government also grants immunity to the leaders of criminal organizations to snitch on the underlings. This is called "rolling down." The use of rats has always been questionable from an ethical standpoint. But the real problem with using rats is the fact that they usually lie to save their own necks. Or, they take a pro-active position by physically helping to entrap friends, associates and relatives. The government lawyers don't care if rats lie or commit crimes. They only care about winning cases. History supports this fact. The sad truth is that even if someone is cleared of the accusations or entrapment of a rat, the cost for a legal defense or damage to a reputation is never recouped.

P is for Politics. Once you get past cases that involve violence or guns, the government frequently pursues cases on its political merit and expedience. Government lawyers always keep their future careers in mind. For example, no matter how many people cheat on their taxes and are caught, usually only high profile wealthy individuals that ever get prosecuted in court. On the other side of the coin, no matter how many people are drug users, it is usually the rich that escape being sent to prison. People in government or those that are politically connected seldom have to worry about being dragged into court, unless there is a public outcry or a need for a token prosecution so the government can say it is keeping its own house in order.

Q is for the Quintessential Lie. The government's announcement of the War on Drugs has proven to be nothing more than false propaganda designed to squeeze more funding out of taxpayers and to further the growth of the police state. The War on Drugs has done nothing to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, and drug use is at an all time high. But the War on Drugs is cited as a convenient excuse for the government to confiscate property, invade the privacy, and erode the personal freedom of ordinary citizens.

R is for Rules. The government makes up all the rules of how the legal game is played and changes them as they go along, subject to the interpretation of a government-paid judge.

R is also for RICO. RICO is an organized crime charge that prosecutors like to tack on to other criminal charges. RICO is a charge which claims that the defendants are operating a continuing criminal enterprise. RICO couldn't possibly be Constitutional, since it is simply an add-on to other charges in an effort to force defendants to capitulate. The threat of a long RICO prison sentences that make many defendants cop a plea. One could reasonable say that the entire Nixon administration was a continuing criminal enterprise and therefore should have been prosecuted under RICO laws. But we know that didn't happen.

S is for Selective Prosecution. Selective prosecution of cases is when a few cases are chosen out of thousands of potential cases. Prostitution, gambling and the collapse of hundreds of savings an loan banks come to mind as crimes that are prosecuted on a token basis to make it look like the government is doing something or simply for the glorification of government police and lawyers. For example, in the Heidi Fliess prostitution case, Heidi was prosecuted for selling sexual services, but none of the equally-guilty johns were prosecuted -- not to mention the hundreds of escort services that openly operate in California that are totally ignored by the police and government.

S is also for Summary Judgment. A summary judgment is a motion when the government claims to a judge that there are no undisputed facts in a civil case of equity and the defendant(s) simply don't deserve a trial. Judges can and do grant summary judgments and deny civil defendants trials. Summary Judgments clearly violate the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution.

T is for Time. The courts can delay civil cases almost indefinitely, and criminal cases can be delay with a myriad of excuses. Government lawyers have nothing personally at risk. They get paid no matter what they are doing. If is not one case, it will be another. The more time a case takes, the greater the chance a defendant will be worn down by time and expense. In civil cases government lawyers and judges often simply delay cases until defendants run out of money or get disgusted and want to get on with their life.

U is for Undermining the Constitution. Deep down, the politicians, bureaucrats and law enforcement agents know that they must undermine the Constitution to expand their power base, increase their taxpayer funded budgets, and perpetuate the big government complex.

V is for Vendetta. God help the poor individual or group that becomes the target of a government vendetta. To understand this, one has to only look at the recent cases that received national attention, such as the Weaver siege in Ruby Ridge, Idaho or the massacre of the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas. Show trials like that of Leona Helmsley are not rare. The IRS has literally tens of thousands of vendettas going on right this very moment. During World War II, Japanese-Americans were rounded up, stripped of their property and herded off to prison simply because they happened to be of Japanese decent. American history is replete with plethora of other examples, and history always repeats itself.

W is for Witch-hunt. A witch-hunt is a case of trumped-up charges or allegations when it is common knowledge that the same activity is openly being done by many others. Insider trading and unfair trade practice cases usually fall into this category. Politicians looking for support or bureaucrats looking for a promotion often use the witch-hunt tactic to gain attention and support. Senator Joseph McCarthy was the undisputed king of the witch-hunters in the 1950s.

W is also for Witness Protection Program. The witness protection program offers violent criminals immunity, money and a new identity in exchange for testimony against their former cohorts. The witness protection program was suppose to lock formerly untouchable organized crime leaders. Besides costing millions of dollars, setting up government witnesses for target practice, and placing government-paid violent criminals in unsuspecting neighborhoods, the witness protection program has caused the new generation of organized criminals to become more violent, killing even innocent families of suspected traders in an effort to keep the rat population under control.

X is for the X-Factor. The X-Factor is the interpretation of the Constitution. Judges don't always make rulings that are Constitutional and protect the rights of the individual the way our founding fathers intended. As our government has grown to metaphysical proportions, individual rights have been consistently trampled by law enforcement and the courts. Remember, the whims of the government or even an individual judge are supported by guns and violence.

Y is for Y (why). Why has our government abandon the principles of our founding fathers?

Z is for Zany. Law enforcement officials, civil or criminal, have become insane. They actually believe their own lies and propaganda, such as the vitriolic bile spewed about the War on Drugs. Government justice has become a self-serving growth industry that robs taxpayers. Too many Americans are in prison for victimless crimes, selective prosecutions or political reasons. Too many Americans have been dragged through the civil courts, or have had property confiscated. Too many Americans have faced trumped up charges.

How can we trust a justice system run by a government that has sold out future by putting us $5 trillion in debt? Isn't the $235 Billion wasted annually on interest alone to service the national debt a crime against the taxpayers and a clear criminal violation of public trust? Why is it a crime for a citizen to lie to the government, but it is not a crime for the government to lie to the citizens? Doesn't the staggering growth in our prison population -- doubling in the last ten years -- speak volumes about government's abuse of power and waste of the taxpayers' money? The justice system that was suppose to solve problems has become the problem.

Our founding fathers worried about any possible repetition of the repressive government of King George. One of the great dangerous trends of our time is the abuse of governmental power with the collusion of the courts. This has become the antithesis of the America the our Founding Fathers intended. That America championed individual rights and freedom from an oppressive government. That America did not seize property without due process of law. That America rewarded intelligence, perseverance and hard work. Today's reward for energy, enterprise and thrift is more taxes at a higher rate that punishes success and undermines the work ethic.

The logic is long gone. That is why Z must be for Zany. No wonder we are in trouble as a nation.