American Legal System Works If You Have Money
30 guides found.
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 30 The OJ Simpson civil vs criminal verdict same evidence different standards of proof different outcom
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1997, a civil jury ordered O.J. Simpson to pay $33.5 million to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman—yet by 2024, the Goldman f…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 29 Death row exonerations 190 death row inmates exonerated since 1973 unknown number executed while inn
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET Since 1973, 190 people sentenced to death in the United States have been exonerated—cleared of all charges after years, sometimes decades, on death r…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 28 Mass incarceration economics United States has 5 percent of world population and 25 percent of world
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET In 2022, the United States spent $80.7 billion on corrections—more than the GDP of 133 countries, including Kenya, Guatemala, and Luxembourg. That sa…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 27 Regulatory revolving door SEC lawyers who dont prosecute get hired by the firms they didnt prosecute
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET Between 2010 and 2020, at least 219 former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyers and senior officials took jobs at law firms or financial …
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 26 Campaign finance as legal bribery corporations can spend unlimited money on political campaigns sinc
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In the 2012 U.S. election cycle, the top 0.01% of political donors—just 30,000 people—contributed 29% of all disclosed federal campaign funds, while …
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 25 Offshore accounts IRS estimates 150 billion lost annually to offshore tax evasion pursued aggressive
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2022, the IRS Criminal Investigation division referred 1,510 cases of offshore tax evasion for prosecution—98% of them against individuals. Not a …
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 24 Corporate personhood corporations have free speech rights allowing unlimited political spending unde
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlim…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 23 Qualified immunity police cannot be sued for civil rights violations unless the exact violation was
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2014, a police officer in Coffee County, Georgia, fired his gun through the window of a moving car, killing a 10-year-old boy sitting in the backs…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 22 Non-disclosure agreements legal tool to buy silence of victims of powerful people
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2017, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found that 36% of sexual harassment settlements in American workplaces included non-…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 21 SLAPP suits Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation corporations sue individuals into silenc
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2019, a Texas energy company sued a 78-year-old retired librarian for $1 million after she posted a single Yelp review calling a local contractor …
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 20 Securities fraud prosecution rate SEC referred 95 percent fewer cases for prosecution after 2008 tha
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In the five years before the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) referred an average of 69 securities fraud case…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 19 White collar sentencing guidelines fraud causing billions gets lighter sentences than street crime c
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2009, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for a $65 billion Ponzi scheme—the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. That same yea…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 18 Legal fees as punishment being found innocent still costs tens of thousands in legal fees with no re
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2019, a Texas man spent 1,001 days in jail awaiting trial for a murder he did not commit. When prosecutors finally dismissed the case, he was bill…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 17 Fines as revenue Ferguson Missouri generated 20 percent of city revenue from fines on poor residents
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2013, the city of Ferguson, Missouri—a municipality of 21,000 people—generated 20.2% of its total revenue from fines and court fees, nearly all le…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 16 Expert witness fees wealthy defendants hire better experts poor defendants get overworked court-appo
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2019, a single expert witness in a federal fraud trial billed $1,200 per hour—more than the annual salary of the court-appointed expert assigned t…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 15 Discovery rules prosecution controls what evidence defense sees Brady violations rarely result in co
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice admitted in federal court that its prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence—material that could have pro…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 14 Prosecutorial immunity prosecutors cannot be sued for misconduct even when it sends innocent people
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a prosecutor who fabricated evidence, coerced witnesses, and withheld exculpatory material—sending an inno…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 13 Private prisons GEO Group and CoreCivic spend millions lobbying for longer sentences and more incarc
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET Between 2010 and 2020, private prison operators GEO Group and CoreCivic spent $25 million lobbying U.S. federal and state governments—while their con…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 12 Three strikes laws life sentences for nonviolent offenses disproportionately applied by zip code and
THE ONE FACT THEY WON’T FORGET In 1995, a 36-year-old man in California was sentenced to life in prison for stealing a $159 jacket. The theft was his third felony—his two prior con…
American Legal System Works If You Have Money: 11 Mandatory minimum sentences federal judge has no discretion crack cocaine vs powder cocaine disparit
THE ONE FACT THEY WON'T FORGET In 2007, a federal judge in Iowa sentenced Derrick Curry to 19 years and 7 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams of crack cocaine—en…