Sarah Floyd
Politics plays a major role in many aspects of American life,
unfortunately the legal system is not immune to this. There are many
examples, both in art and in real life where politics influences the
outcome of a trial or legal decision. While the legal system is far
from perfect, mixing politics into the law only makes it worse. In
one recent an American girl, Amanda Knox, was on trial in Italy for
murdering her roommate. The case was legally pretty weak, with no
real evidence tying her to the murder and the prosecution changed
their theory about the murder a few times. However, Amanda Knox was
found guilty. It seemed she had already been tried in the media with
extensive coverage starting with the day the murder was discovered and
continuing for over a year. The media twisted facts from her past to
make her seem like a bad person. Another aspect of the case was the
way the crime scene and investigation was conducted. There were
accusations from the defense that much of the evidence had been
contaminated, which the prosecution vehemently denied. It seemed that
the whole thing turned into a battle between the prosecution and
defense. The prosecution couldn’t lose this case because it would
make them and their investigation look bad, and it seemed the people
of the town of Perugia had already made up their minds anyway. It
became a political fight for the prosecution and perhaps even for
Perugia. Unfortunately a potentially innocent girl paid the price.
In the movie Mississippi Burning the murder of civil rights workers is
covered up by a small rural town in Mississippi that is caught in the
throws of the civil rights movement. It seems the entire town is
behind the cover up including the police department, with quite a few
of the officers being part of the KKK. Political pressure is one of
the motivations behind the cover up. It is a town that is fighting
integration and acceptance of another race and they are trying to make
the murders just go away. A couple of investigators wont let that
happen however and they eventually find the truth and the guilty
parties are punished, but this is another example of political
influence in the law. There are many other examples of politics
overriding the law, it is a problem found in life and imitated in art.
Politics influencing the law is something that should be taken
seriously and while there probably isn’t a way to prevent it we should
do our best to focus on the legal and not the political.
