The story is told of the mayor from the fabled village of Chelm, in which dwelled all of the world’s fools. The mayor set himself to the task of determining what kind of prison should be built in Chelm and traveled to see what others had done. When he returned, he told the Chelmites of his travels and his conclusion: “After speaking to many persons in many prisons, I have been told by half of those that they are guilty, and the other half say they are innocent, so here in Chelm we should build two prisons—one for those who are guilty, and one for those who are innocent.”
We would like to think that our jurisprudence was not developed in Chelm. In the United States, we believe that those who commit crimes should be found guilty, and those who do not commit crimes should not be charged at all. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Joel Cohen, who practices law at the venerable Stroock law firm, in his latest book, “Broken Scales: Reflections on Injustice,” gives us an insight of just how tragically flawed our justice system is.
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