In the recent Plain Dealer series, “Justice Blinded: Race, Drugs and Our Legal System,” reporter Bob Paynter, in an amazingly detailed manner, has proven what many have known all along: America’s so-called system of justice is broken, and in far too many instances it simply doesn’t work when it comes to fairness and parity for minorities or the poor.

The problem is that, for the most part, the legal system is merely reflecting the basic unfairness and disparities minorities face in other aspects of American life and culture: Jobs, delivery of healthcare services, spending for education — the list could on and on.

For decades, it’s been a known, proven and verifiable fact that blacks, whites and Hispanics all buy, sell and use drugs at approximately 11 percent of each group’s population. Yet blacks (and Hispanics to some degree) are much more likely to wind up in prison or with a felony conviction for the exact same behavior whites get a virtual pass on. Why? Because of selective enforcement, selective prosecution, and unfair sentencing — and everyone, at every level of the justice system is in on hustle

In the suburbs, someone caught with a crack pipe is charged with a misdemeanor; in Cleveland, the same crack pipe is a felony. Why? Here’s one dirty little secret: Because police officers in Cleveland get to go to court and earn four hours of overtime, primarily off blacks. Yes, it’s all about the Benjamins, and everyone in the system knows it, including Mayor Frank Jackson, who could put a stop to this part of the scam in an instant, if he were so inclined.  

While Paynter rightly blasts the prosecutors for capriciously determining who gets diversion programs and who gets a felony conviction, there is a simple way of stopping this miscarriage. All defense attorneys have to do is quit pleading their clients out. Take every case to trial. The court system would freeze up due to the overload; it quite simply cannot handle holding trials for the 90+ percent of cases that are currently plea-bargained. The system would be forced to change and become fairer.

Why don’t the members of the defense bar pursue such a strategy? Ask them. In all likelihood they too are afraid of the police. Ditto for the judges, who are too concerned with re-election to stand up for what is right. As for County Prosecutor Bill Mason, don’t hold you breath waiting for him to do the right thing..

Sadly, there’s more than enough shame to go around down at the “Just Us” Center.