How Healthy is The Justice System

Today I was reading about a sheriff in California that says all the charges against him are false and untrue. This means that he never accepted bribes and has never exchanged political favors in office. Everyone knows to get to the top you have to collaborate with some shady characters to keep everyone happy.

It is kind of humorous to believe that this sheriff believes that he is doing everything by the book, when he has a mistress and a wife. All three have been indicted, but the sheriff says he is innocent and has never misused his office. The southern California county which he heads is the fifth largest force in the country. When the head is caught accepting bribes, than I wonder what the rest of the force is doing to make ends meet.

Once the sheriff was elected a wealthy businessman paid for a vacation, and gave the sheriff a boat, and let him use his yacht and private plane. The businessman also paid the sheriff 1000, dollars a month to be an assistant sheriff and help his friends circumvent the system. This started in 1998 and the sheriff is still in office.

Maybe everyone was blind but someone before now should have noticed that something was wrong. Is it possible that breaking the law is okay if you are in power? Maybe it is okay to lie steal and cheat if you have a badge and a gun. What is wrong in our society when the people that we are suppose to trust have stole so long that they think they are doing things right?

How healthy is the justice system in this country when the leaders have no idea what is right. We would like to believe that this is an isolated incident and this is not the general rule. However this sheriff was blatant with his stealing and his friends could not cover his tracks. Everyone knew he was corrupt from the beginning he was elected to office. But everyone closed their eyes because no one wanted to tell the truth. In how many cities and counties across the country do we have one eye closed and the other eye with shudders?

We only open our eyes when someone who is honest with a sense of integrity forces the system to respond to the obvious. The justice system is broken and sick, but where are the doctors?
Roger