Re: Charles J. Reid

I am in close agreement with you Dennis. The "three strikes" laws prove
your point. Under old Anglo-Saxon law and its conception of Natural Law,
each act is judged on it own merits, and penalties fit that act. Unrelated
transgressions are not permissible as evidence. However, in both France
and Germany, one act is considered together with all acts, in a manner
similar to 3-strikes. In addition, "deal making" that minimizes penalties
for the "cooperative" part of a criminal enterprise a la Valacchi has
destroyed the original conception of Justice as conceived of in 1787. So I
agree that we have abandoned our foundational legal system and replaced it
with another, less humane and more dishonorable and dishonest one.

//CJR

On Thu, 14 Mar 2002, Dennis L. Blewitt wrote:

>     One should ask the question "When did a third branch or the Government
> become a system?"
>     The judicial branch of governmemt has ceased to be a branch of gvmt.
> Rather, it is now a system to process complaints.  As it was systemized,
> power was transferred to public officials in the executive branch such as
> prosecutors and administrators who make most of the basic policy decisions
> with out any feedback from Judges or juries.  The system is therefore a
> closed one.
>     Precedent becomes secondary to a code which can be applied globally
> without regard to local mores, convention, etc.  The problem is not  that
> corporations have the status of persons, but social contract is destroyed in
> favor or the written code.  The power to write and define the code is with
> the corporations.
>     In a common law system, power is distributed from the bottom up, whereas
> in a Napoleanic one, power is from the top down.  We have abolished our
> legal system and have replaced it with a Napoleonic one.  Structure
> influences behavior, which can possibly explain some of the change now being
> discussed
> Dennis L. Blewitt
>