Guest blog: The human consequences of judicial decisions

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By James B. Steele
Pulitzerprize-winning journalist James B. Steele, co-author with Donald Barlett of The Betrayal of the American Dream,had been scheduled to offer some context for the economic issues discussed inAFJ’s documentary Unequal Justice, at its Washington D.C. premiere.  Unfortunately, when we had to reschedule thepremiere to tonight because of Hurricane Sandy, Steele was unable to joinus.  But he believes the issues discussedin the documentary are so important that he sent us this guest blog.  There’s still time for you to registerto attend the free screening tonight. And Steele’s essay, below, serves as a great introduction for tonight’sprogram.Theinequality that has transformed the United States into a place eerilyresembling the nation during the robber baron era didn’t just happen.

It’s theresult of deliberate policies in taxes, trade and deregulation that have enabledthe top one percent of Americans to take control of more wealth than the bottom90 percent.

James B. Steele, right, with co-author Donald Barlett

Therole of Congress, corporate America and various Administrations in implementingpolicies that have tilted the economic playing field against the best interestsof average Americans is well established. What is not so well known is how thecourts have contributed to this economic imbalance. Unequal Justice brilliantly shines a light on this neglected areaand exposes the human consequences that judicial decisions have on the lives ofmillions of Americans.Inthe research for our book The Betrayal ofthe American Dream,  we came acrossexample after example of how the courts have stacked the deck againstAmericans. One of the most heart-rending cases was story of Joy Whitehouse, towhom we dedicated the book.Joyand her late husband raised four children and gave them a solid upbringing onhis salary as a long-haul truck driver. After he was killed in a highway crashcaused in part by faulty maintenance of his truck, Joy expected to receive $598every two weeks from the company in retirement. But the company reneged on thepayment when it entered bankruptcy court and asked a judge to dismiss Joy’sclaim. Ultimately the court awarded a few cents on the dollar to somecreditors; Joy received nothing. Hobbled by ill health and unable to work, Joywas on her own.Ona visit to her modest mobile home outside Salt Lake City, she led me to a smallshed in her backyard. Inside was a jumble of discarded aluminum cans. She hadcollected used soda, soup and vegetable cans alongside the roads in herneighborhood and from neighbors. Twice a month a friend drove her to a recyclerwho gave her around $30 each time.  Whenyour only monthly income is $942 from Social Security, she said, the extra $60comes in handy.

Remarkably,she wasn’t bitter. She didn’t decry her fate. She just wanted what her husband had earned and which she as mother oftheir children was owed. After she was denied that, she did what so manyhard-working Americans do: she tried to make the best of a situation that wasnot of her own making.

“You putyour pride in your pocket and you learn to help yourself,” she told me. “I savecans.”

Joy was one of a kind, but we saw in her storywhat was happening to so many middle class Americans who’ve seen their economicsecurity taken from them by Wall Street, Washington and the courts.  The United States, the ostensible land ofopportunity, has turned its back on it's own people. Restoring balance in oureconomic system is crucial, so all may share in the hope, promise andprosperity of this nation.