Dear Madame/Mr. President:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” the reverend Martin Luther King once reasoned. The United States is built off of the idea that all citizens have their rights. All citizens. That includes African Americans, Latinos, legal immigrants along with Caucasians. All citizens. So why is that not the case? I understand that the justice system in the United States has protected countless people, but that doesn't make up for the many cases where citizens of the U.S.are not protected. I find it ironic how patriotism is a huge deal in American culture; indeed, it is a sign of “how American” someone is, as if driving a Chevy truck with American flags means you are more American than someone who does. But how are we supposed to support our country one-hundred percent when there isn’t one hundred percent fairness for all citizens. There are always going to be problems within a country, that is expected. But corruption within the criminal justice system goes against everything The United States of America stands for.

“We have watched the court system excuse police brutality, torture and murder. We have seen professional accountability fail miserably.” One of the many examples of how our criminal justice system is broken. Just for a second pretend that you are a parent, the parent of a young innocent 11 year old boy, one night he went out on a bike ride, as children do, with his older brother and friend and never came home. Instead he was abducted, raped and murdered. The part that makes this even worse is that Danny Heinrich, the man who was responsible for this horrible crime was and will never be charged for the crimes committed against little Jacob Wetterling. Is this justice? Justice for Jacob’s family, justice for his friends, justice for Jacob Wetterling? I don't think so. If the criminal justice system was not corrupt then Danny Heinrich would have been arrested and charged with the appropriate charges. And in the months following Wetterling’s abduction Heinrich would have been arrested then for the evidence held him proving his involvement in another young boy’s abduction.-Another boy who will never get justice.

According to researchnews.osu.edu "About 10,000 people in the United States may be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes each year." This seems further suggest that the criminal justice system is corrupt. If it wasn't corrupt than no one would have to face punishment for crimes that they didn't commit.  This is unfair to the citizens of the United States. You could be doing everything in your power to make the correct choices and staying out of trouble and still spend years in jail for a crime you didn't commit.

I acknowledge the fact that there are worse problems around the world and corruption is much worse in other countries around the world. And for the most part corruption within the criminal justice system does not happen extremely often. But that doesn't meant that us as Americans can just forget about it and think that it will just go away on its own. 

Sincerely,

Arianna H.