Joseph E. Stiglitz: "What has become of the rule of law in the US?"

[Better Believe It]

Foreclosures and Banks' Debt to Society
Rewritten bankruptcy provisions reduce indebted homeowners to servitude. What has become of the rule of law in the US?
by Joseph E. Stiglitz
November 6, 2010


The mortgage debacle in the United States has raised deep questions about "the rule of law", the universally accepted hallmark of an advanced, civilized society. The rule of law is supposed to protect the weak against the strong, and ensure that everyone is treated fairly. In America, in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, it has done neither.

Part of the rule of law is security of property rights - if you owe money on your house, for example, the bank can't simply take it away without following the prescribed legal process. But in recent weeks and months, Americans have seen several instances in which individuals have been dispossessed of their houses even when they have no debts.

To some banks, this is just collateral damage: millions of Americans - in addition to the estimated 4 million in 2008 and 2009 - still have to be thrown out of their homes. Indeed, the pace of foreclosures would be set to increase - were it not for government intervention. The procedural shortcuts, incomplete documentation and rampant fraud that accompanied banks' rush to generate millions of bad loans during the housing bubble has, however, complicated the process of cleaning up the ensuing mess.

To many bankers, these are just details to be overlooked. Most people evicted from their homes have not been paying their mortgages, and, in most cases, those who are throwing them out have rightful claims. But Americans are not supposed to believe in justice on average. We don't say that most people imprisoned for life committed a crime worthy of that sentence. The US justice system demands more, and we have imposed procedural safeguards to meet these demands.

Growing inequality, combined with a flawed system of campaign finance, risks turning America's legal system into a travesty of justice. Some may still call it the "rule of law", but it would not be a rule of law that protects the weak against the powerful. Rather, it would enable the powerful to exploit the weak.


Read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/06-1

[Denninmi]

1. The rule of law is gone. Get used to it.

Justice is only for the rich. And, justice is now defined as "whatever I can afford to buy."

[txlibdem]

29. The golden rule

He who has the gold makes the rules.

[Goldstein1984]

2. Laws must be enforced

And the majority of those who make, enforce and intepret the laws are in the pockets of Wall Street.

It really is that simple.

[Raster]

37. It truly is that simple. Hideously unpalatable, but that simple.

There may be two political parties in Washington, but they both feed from the same trough and by the same hand.

[txlibdem]

40. So the revolution is over... we lost and we didn't even know we were fighting

Poor stupid American workers, us.

:(

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. Hint:

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Crime does pay.

We have politicized crime. Once you become a politician, you have to piss off someone important before someone comes after you.

Investigations shouldn't be based on politics, it should be based on justice and a need to restore balance. Right now we have a pattern where the Republicans use investigations for vendettas, and the Democrats turn the other cheek. That's why this country is so out of balance.

[kenny blankenship]

5. Still there for the little people -sterner than ever. The system has just become "more like itself"

without the confusing extraneous elements of New Deal Socialism.

[Greyhound]

6. The second casualty of fascism. n/t

:kick: & R

[HCE SuiGeneris]

14. K & R

:kick:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. It has become inconvenient in the face of political expediency.

[Lyric]

8. Laws, like taxes, are for "little people".

That's what we've become. Are we going to allow our society to remain that way?

[fasttense]

9. Their is no rule of law.

It disappeared the day the Dancing Supremes ignored the Constitution and picked our President for us. All the crimes of the bush administration and their RepubliCON Congress grew out of this one political, unconstitutional act by our Supreme Court.

"In today's America, the proud claim of "justice for all" is being replaced by the more modest claim of "justice for those who can afford it". And the number of people who can afford it is rapidly diminishing."

[bertman]

12. fasttense, you nailed it. Thank you.

[Richard Steele]

26. K&R

[phiddle]

32. Prophetic essay at the time

"Can the Rule of Law Survive Bush v. Gore?"
http://books.google.com/books?id=S3EM-hS9WB4C&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=can+the+rule+of+law+survive+bush+v.+gore%3F&source=bl&ots=DikVc7Bc6L&sig=fdfV4PtJu5uY-Il51ty9LS-8I4w&hl=en&ei=mbrWTJ_AEo-gnwfArqykCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

[leftstreet]

10. When property rights are more important than human rights, shit happens

The 'system' is flawed from the start

[truedelphi]

11. thank you for posting, Better Believe It. n/t

[bertman]

13. REC. Thanks for this post, Better Believe It. nt

[Jefferson23]

15. I love this guy. Hire him Obama, it's not too late. n/t

[malaise]

16. K & R - Must Read n/t

[Karmadillo]

17. Undermined by bipartisan consensus.

nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Declining empires do this

[BrklynLiberal]

19. Excellent question from one of the economists that was ignored by this Administration.

[Zanzobar]

20. Another myth

The rule of law only applies to those who are unable to purchase an arbitration.

Sorry, suckers.

[amborin]

21. the private debt of Wall St. megabanks has become the public debt of American taxpayers, via TARP

the banksters are raking in huge profits and bonuses again, just as if nothing happened; the public is picking up the tab;

and, Obama helped push through TARP, as candidate, in fall of 2008; and he chose the same old suspects as his inner circle of advisors.....

[phasma ex machina]

22. "Oh, You Thought We'd Forget The Felonies? Nope."

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - In response to Wells Fargo's statement acknowledging that it "made mistakes" and that affidavits in 55,000 foreclosures filed by the bank did not "adhere" to the law, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray offers the following statement:

"The big mortgage servicers and financial firms continue to demonstrate their belief that they do not need to play by the same rules as everyone else who uses our court system. The suggestion by Wells Fargo and its colleagues at several other national firms that they can cure fraudulent testimony by simply refiling new affidavits and continuing to proceed toward foreclosures shows they do not recognize the seriousness of the problem they have created. There is no simple 'do-over' for false testimony that will be likely to avoid sanctions and penalties imposed by the courts. Their brazen efforts to minimize their financial exposure by sweeping these problems under the rug are an insult to the justice system in this country. These disclosures by Wells Fargo will now become the focus for a new prong of our on-going investigation."(link)

It's my understanding that the AGs of all fifty states are now actively pursuing criminal charges against banks.

[chill_wind]

23. K & R. n/t

[snot]

24. K&R'd multiple exclamation points.

Although, um, I actually thought he was going to talk about prosecution of the senior executives that engineered the meltdown.

(Not to mention war crimes.)

[Enthusiast]

25. Since Bush v Gore

the rule of law has been a bad joke. The problem was only compounded when President Obama decided to 'look forward'. Now we live in the 'Wild West'.

[treestar]

27. More doom and gloom

What rewritten bankruptcy provision?

[datasuspect]

39. are you sleeping?

bk "reform" during the bush regime?

HELLOOOOO??????

law written by lobbyists and hand delivered to representatives???

are you high?

[hobbit709]

28. The rule is "Money talks, everything else walks"

[txlibdem]

30. The nation cannot afford both rights for the little people AND obscene profits for the wealthy

You lose.

When are the rest of you "little people" going to get as pissed off as I am? I can only hope and wait. We can no longer afford to carry the rich b@stards around on our backs as they skim a bigger and bigger piece off the top year after year. When will we toss them off of our backs and into the dirt where they belong? You tell me.

[Maineman]

31. Are DOJ plants from the Bush Admin sabotaging the DOJ?

Something is going wrong in the DOJ.

[laughingliberal]

33. Long gone

K&R

[ananda]

34. There is a rule of law all right, but it's selective.

One law for Dems and liberals, and no law for Reeps, corporations, and the rich.

[flyarm]

35. I was just touring East Berlin and the Wall..what is left of it &Berlin's Topography of Terror

Berlin's Topography of Terror Museum..

The most profound thing that struck me in the Museum was the continual reference about Hitler and the build up to the Nazi Regime, the SS and the Reich was the destruction of the "Rule of Law".

The silencing of The People with propaganda, and intimidation with the aide of the destruction of the Rule of Law.

Anyone who accepts the destruction of our Rule of Law will be complicit in the destruction of Democracy as we know it.

History proves that to us!

To ignore it, is to repeat it, at everyone's peril.

I wish every American could visit this museum, it sits on the former sight of the Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin. It would make us all appreciate "Rule of Law" and our Constitution and recognise the constant propaganda we are subjected to and the dangers of the destruction of Rule of Law and our Constitution! If we all saw this, I believe no one would allow any Rule of Law be ignored.

I felt very strongly before seeing this Museum about Rue of Law..many of my posts here I have repeatedly said such..I feel even more strongly after visiting this museum, that anyone who would tell me the watering down of any Rule of Law in this country is OK..I would want to spit in their faces!
And I mean that!

It is too late when protections of the weak or non powerful are gone.. we the people need to wake the hell up!! Today is not soon enough!!

[cornermouse]

36. Rule of law = a quaint, antiquated notion that ordinary people

have rights and that there are some barriers that the wealthy should not be allowed to cross.

[felix_numinous]

38. Might is Right

these days, they have an endless supply of money and guns. They own the army and blackwater, they have infiltrated too many seats of power.

What is the lesson of assassinations without consequences, false flag operations without any consequences and wars for profit without any consequences===These are all clear reminders of who is in charge, no matter what they say.

You can see it written all over their faces.

I believe it is possible to challenge this paradigm, it has been done over and over in history. People have risen up and created a paradigm of working together--Power With, instead of Power Over.