Ordinary Injustice How America Holds Court Analysis - 1532 Words
The book Ordinary Injustice How America Holds Court is a novel written by attorney and journalist Amy Bach about the American legal system, and how it was become flawed. In four chapters, she discusses many different cases where injustice and corruption has occurred in the United States legal system all over the country. I chose to focus on a chapter titled “A Troy Champion” which is the second chapter in the novel written about a beloved city council president, and former judge, named Henry R. Bauer from the city of Troy who is not as just as everyone has come to believe. Bach begins the chapter by discussing how popular Bauer had become. “To walk the streets with Bauer was to accompany a celebrity” (Bach, 77) she says. The people of Troy …show more content…

He is the man who first brought attention to Bauer’s misconduct. Troy was working for a department store packaging boxes when he was caught stealing a pack of gum, a video game, and Chapstick, totaling a price of $27.77, which constituted as petty theft (Bach, 87). He was given an appearance ticket to come to court. Frazier’s judge was Henry Bauer. Frazier assumed that he would have to pay a fine, but instead, “[Bauer] threw Frazier in jail on fifty thousand dollars bail” (Bach, 87). Understandably, Frazier is confused and angry, “By their constantly pulling us in, that’s what makes us bitter and all you want to do is rebel, and then that person comes out a hardened criminal” (Bach 87) he says. Bauer is abusing his power as a judge by imposing excessive bail upon the defendant. According to the eighth amendment, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed” (Bach 89). Frazier understands that his rights have been infringed upon. He writes a letter to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, an agency that prosecutes abuses by judges, about what happened to him in Bauer’s court. The Commission is appalled by the excessive bail and starts an investigation on Bauer. The Commission investigates this cause, of Eric Frazier, and Bauer insists that he has done nothing wrong. “Bauer said the bail was valid because of [Frazier’s] criminal history” …show more content…

Bobo was sitting with a couple of her friends on a stoop of a building where one of her friend’s relatives lived, and she was arrested for trespassing. She, of course, was in Bauer’s court. Bach states that, “No record exists of her arraignment but Bauer set her bail at twenty thousand dollars ad charged her with trespass” (Bach, 94). If Bobo had had a lawyer, he or she may have filed a speedy-trial motion that demanded a trial within five days, and if it did not happen within that amount of time, she would have to be released after the sixth day. Instead, since Bobo was not appointed a lawyer, which is her legal right, she sat in jail for eight days on a minor trespass charge. When she finally had a court date, still without a lawyer, Bauer advised Bobo to plead guilty and only be imposed a small fine of ninety-five dollars. “The Commission investigating Bauer found in Bobo’s case and instance of ‘excessive bail’” (Bach, 95). Bauer continues to insist that he has done nothing wrong. “He argued that Bobo had been trespassing on what he ‘believed to be’ a crack house or a building about which he had ‘some recollection of prior drug activity’” (Bach 95). He sees these injustices as the right thing to do, even though they are illegal and they are hurting innocent