As for the justice system, take the case of teenager Courtney B. who was falsely accused by another teen of unwanted sexual touching, an accusation invented by a mother who wanted to sue a school district for money. Courtney was arrested in Arizona without due process, held without bail for 66 days, and wrongfully convicted of child molestation by a judge. Sentenced to 11 years, she is required to register as a sex offender upon release. Despite proof that the alleged crime never happened, the county attorney, disbarred after copious alleged ethics violations, refused to admit he'd made a mistake. So this young woman languishes in jail - like so many others with similarly tragic stories, and many exonerees who finally make it out.
Clearly, we are failing as an exceptional, First World, democratic country in many ways.
In a recent column in The New York Times related to the Secret Service debacle, Thomas Friedman put his finger on something important and relevant. "Just look at Washington these days and listen to what politicians are saying," he wrote. "Watch how they spend their time. You can't help but ask: Do these people care a whit about the country anymore?"
We should all be asking that question with all due speed and gravity before we too become known as a "less developed country" struggling with political and moral corruption.
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