We read at techjury.net, that “…over 77 million Americans hold a criminal record,” which certainly reflects that America is indeed, a nation of criminals. Perhaps this is the way it should be, in the sense that those that commit crimes and are convicted of such, should therefore be forever labeled as criminals, fully deserving of their record and the consequences, so of.
Of course, not all that glitters is gold, and in the case of criminal records, not all who have such, deserve such a label. For instance, despite the fact that those accused of a given crime, should be afforded an attorney, in many a case, no attorney is really present, for the adjudication of their case; because such is seldom heard in front of a jury of one’s peers, but typically, instead, the accused has been essentially coerced or pressured into some sort of plea bargain deal, in which pretty much every card is held by the prosecutorial arm; whereas, absolutely no power is in the hands of the person so having been charged. Additionally, there are misdemeanor offenses that because incarceration is either minimal or non-existence as a penalty for that misdemeanor crime, that therefore the accused has no right to an attorney, even though the conviction of such a misdemeanor crime would thereby become part and parcel of that person’s criminal record, forever. Further to the point, there are numerous offenses which have been defined as being a crime, of which, these types of crimes which lack a true victim, would be better dealt with as some sort of ticketing offense, such as for those accused of recreational drug use, illicit gambling, public drunkenness, possession of contraband, homelessness, prostitution, and the like.
To the shame of America, it likes to paint a justice picture of black and white, of which, those that are without a criminal record, thereby are seen as being “good”, and then those that have a criminal record are thereby seen as being “bad,” with no shades of gray, between the two. Yet, what has not been taken into account, is the actual setup of our criminal justice system, which is deliberately structured in a way, that those that are the least powerful, the least championed, and have been born and raised in the least of circumstances, have pretty much be corralled from their birth into a construct in which they have a high probability that they will, at some point, receive a criminal record, essentially for being poor and disadvantaged.
The reflection that so many of American citizens are criminals, is consistent with the fact that America has a huge underclass which suffers from having to bear the burden of the sins of a nation, that has an elite which rules the roost, and are themselves in many ways, the biggest of criminals, by virtue of their, for instance, financial manipulations, collusion, corruption, double-dealing, tax cheating, corporate fraud and corporate pollution, price manipulation, embezzlement, and so on; though seldom are they convicted of such, because this government seldom has an interest in holding them accountable, because that government itself is often complicit in their activities, directly or indirectly.
America is indeed a nation of criminals, but not all those that are labeled as a “criminal” are themselves deserving of such; and not all that are “lawful” are as clean as they like to portray themselves as being.