Richard Castle shows us the dark reality of justice in 21st C America

Summary:  We continue our examination of the hit TV show “Castle”, today mining for insights about justice in 21st C America. Castle is a romantic comedy; an accurate depiction of our criminal justice system would be a horror show. As in the previous chapters of this series, this suggests that we might no longer defend America because we’ve lost confidence in it.  Spoilers!

We should fear Justice. If she weighs America in her scales, she might use that sword on us.

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Contents

1. “Castle” shows us 21st C American justice
2. The collapse of our criminal justice system
3. Feudal justice
4. Other posts in this series about “Castle”
5. For More Information
6. They’ll have to carve these words off the Court’s building

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(1)  “Castle” shows us 21st C American justice

From the first episode of Castle.

BECKETT:  You have quite a rap sheet for a best-selling author: disorderly conduct, resisting arrest.
CASTLE:  Boys will be boys.
BECKETT:  It says here that you stole a police horse?
CASTLE:  Borrowed.
BECKETT:  And you were nude at the time.
CASTLE:  It was spring.
BECKETT:  And every time the charges were dropped.
CASTLE:  What can I say? The mayor is a fan.

This is a realistic description of High Justice in America, the criminal justice system for the rich. Drug use? Disorderly conduct? Sexual assault, rape?  Even murder? Erased by money and power.

A young man of the middle class who commits crimes like Castle’s gets Middle Justice:  a criminal record, with punishment mitigated only if the relatives fund crippling legal fees. Disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest are misdemeanors, usually punished by fines and probation — with possible “collateral consequences” such as loss of professional licenses and bonds.  Theft of the police horse is a felony, with punishment depending on the degree of anger felt by the police.

A young man of the lower classes commits such crimes gets Low Justice: a criminal record, with all of the above plus the possibility of jail time.

(2)  The collapse of our criminal justice system

The “Castle” TV show frankly if lightly describes some dark aspects of our criminal justice system, such as prison rape. But overall it is accurate as a “police procedural” in the same sense that Lord of the Rings describes warfare. Fun fantasy.

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Our criminal justice system is a disgrace, as shown in these posts revealing the horrific details about the workings of our “law enforcement” system:

1. Being a third world nation is a state of mind, as we will learn (about prison rape), 19 March 2011
2. The Collapse of American Criminal Justice System, 19 September 2011 — Excerpts from The Collapse of American Criminal Justice by William J. Stuntz
3. A survey of the components, each rotten: More about the collapse of the American Criminal Justice System, 20 September 2011 – Studies and reports about our shameful system.
4. Final thoughts about the American Criminal Justice System, 21 September 2011

(3) Feudal Justice vs modern justice

Wikipedia describes the old justice system.

{F}eudal justice was a labyrinth of specific customs and rules in nearly endless variation, not governed by any clear legal logic, and subject to significant historical evolution in time, though the largely customary law tended by nature to be quite conservative.

This applies equally well to our legal system. It’s evolved into an incoherent mess. It produces arbitrary results, consumes not just vast amounts of public funds but often the lives of those who fall into it.

(4) Other posts in this series about “Castle”

• (1) Spoilers for “Castle”: explaining the finale & season 7. It’s a metaphor for America.
• (2) What we do here. Why it’s unpopular. And our new theme.
• (3) What the TV show “Castle” teaches us about America, and ourselves, — About our myths
• Intermission: NCIS: Los Angeles – TV adventures of our stylish security police
• (4 ) The TV show “Castle” challenges us to see our changing values. Most fans decline, horrified.
• (5) “Castle” shows us marriage in America, a fault line between our past & future
• (6) “Castle” shows us a dark vision of Romance in America
• (7) Richard Castle shows us the dark reality of justice in 21st C America
• (8) “Castle” shows that many of us don’t defend New America because we don’t like it
• (9)  The bitter fruits of our alienation from America — more lessons from “Castle”

(5)  For More Information

(a)  See all posts about:

1. Art, Myth and Literature
2. Women and gender issues

(b)  Posts about justice:

1. Sparks of justice still live in America – cherish them and perhaps they’ll spread, 11 September 2009
2. The Feds decide who to lock up for life (not just at Guantanamo), another nail in the Constitution’s coffin, 2 June 2010
3. Code red! The Constitution is burning., 5 August 2010 — Judges pretend blindness to the hit on Anwar al-Awlaki
4. Another American judge weakens the Republic’s foundation, 8 August 2010
5. Why should we care about the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing strip & cavity searches of prisoners?, 5 April 2012
6. Freedom and justice, evicted from America, may have found a new home, 17 August 2012
7. A mystery about a possible domestic hit by the police in America, 8 September 2012
8. The NDAA shows that justice is blind in America, but in a bad way, 9 October 2012
9. Justice still lives. It’s found a new home – in Europe., 23 December 2012
10. The last prosecution from the Occupy movement: guilty! Reformers beware – suppression works., 6 May 2014

(6)  They’ll have to carve these words off the Supreme Court Building

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