Desperate For More Oversight

In California and New York, there are two different criminal justice reform bills that have been introduced, which are supposedly looking to bring more accountability to the justice system.

In New York, Gov. Cuomo recently signed one of those bills which would establish a new oversight watchdog group that will be aimed at evaluating the work of prosecutors in the state, along with their assistants.

The group will be given the authority to probe accusations relating to prosecutorial misconduct which they hope is going to reverse or prevent constitutional violations from taking place.

According to one representative, Sen. DeFrancisco, he says that many individuals have wrongfully been sent to prison as a result of the misconduct of some prosecutors and he is hoping that this new oversight group will be the appropriate remedy to address that issue.

It's suspected that if this bill gets challenged in court, that it could end up being turned over.

The reason for this is because the new bill seemingly violates the state constitution, specifically the separation of powers clause.

Cuomo has indicated that his signature on the bill is contingent on an amendment being introduced next year that would address this issue relating to the separation of powers clause.

In California, the 2nd bill that is currently sitting before the legislature, is seeking to strengthen the trust between officers and the community. Specifically, if passed, the new bill SB1421, would require police agencies to release information that was found to relate to findings of police dishonesty in the course of criminal cases and more. They would have to disclose that information to the public, evidence relating to serious issues of police force, especially those that involve officer-shootings, to ideally boost transparency of their activities. That bill has yet to be passed and signed into law.

Are these going to act as true solutions to the issues of corruption in the criminal justice system?

For the public to have an honest grasp on the extent of the corruption that might be festering in their local police departments, they would need to have an understanding on the injustices that take place and this includes being aware of wrongdoings. Having valuable information relating to officer shootings and other interactions with officers that go foul, could help to bring about a more detailed understanding of what has and is taking place.

Actors within the justice system have efficiently worked to further degrade what is an already incredibly flawed system; far too often the system appears to be protecting predators and wrongdoers, rather than seeking to hold them accountable.

If these departments want to foster trustworthiness with their communities, then they need to demonstrate that punishment will be issued accordingly when officers and others in positions of authority engage in harmful wrongdoing.

The hope here is that these bills will address the true issue of corruption....but

What is to prevent these watchdog groups from becoming corrupt themselves?

Pics:
Pixabay

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