Abuse Of Power And Greed In America's Justice System

Mackenzie Wolfe
Mr. Boline
AP Language Arts
29 March 2023
America’s Justice System is Broken High influence issues such as abuse of power and greed can change the course of hundreds of lives and impact the way the world treats people. As seen in Just Mercy, written by Brian Stevenson, these issues can be the difference between life, death and a long life of lasting mental health issues. The Justice System of the United States is broken because of the abuse of power and greed that hold high influence in America’s Justice System.

Abuse of power is significantly influential in the Justice System. It corrupts officials, changes outcomes of “fair trials”, convicts innocent people and even sometimes is the cause of a wrongful death

Like we saw in Just Mercy, the abuse of power of higher officials like police officers, judges and other court officers take advantage of those they swore to protect and have dramatic influence on the outcome of a defendant's rights. The threatening and bribing of Myers procured a false testimony which displays the type of abuse of power that holds high control over the Justice System, “He told us about being pressured by the sheriff and the ABI and threatened with the death penalty if he didn’t testify against McMillian” (pg. 136). These officers and the Alabama Bureau of Investigations persuaded Myer’s too…. Sadly, the abuse of power is very common in the cases that go through our Justice System on a daily basis. Many people in power use it to their advantage to persuade, bribe or take control to influence a trial or the system. If someone in power can so easily deny another’s right to a fair trial, then the

It is one of the most influential forces in our world. There are many forms of greed and they impact many different parts of our lives. With greed, we can be easily influenced into participating in illegal activities, making morally wrong decisions and working with those who abuse their power. In Walter McMillian’s story from Just Mercy, police officers had threatened and bribed a convicted felon (Ralph Myers) to lie on the witness stand and blame Walter for a young girl’s death. Ralph, out of survival and of greed, agreed to lie on the witness stand, indirectly sentencing an innocent man to death. Ralph’s greed had pushed him to put his needs above the life of another and took Walter's right to a fair trial. Years later, Myers recanted his original statement, “l done put a damn man on death row by lying in damn court” (pg. 139). With the statement, Mr. McMillian was released, but not without depression and Post Incarceration Syndrome (PIS). Another example of greed in the Justice System in Just Mercy, is