[Editor’s note: this piece has been very difficult to write.  I’ve been working on it for months, and have deliberated about publishing it at all; I think because the objective it advocates is so daunting.  But I do think it goes to the heart of so much that is wrong with the justice system. I do not have hard data to support my position, and I doubt such data will ever exist, but I do have decades of study and careful observation.  I only report what I observe. Please read it, and just think about it.]

This article will be both editorial and somewhat philosophical, at least to the extent that it expresses conclusions on my part, so please bear with me. But it does address an issue that I believe is one of the key flaws in the justice system – and one that seems to be universally overlooked…