I gotta say, there's a lot that's fundamentally wrong with our system of government; I'm a devoted follower of Dan Lazare's critique of our constitutional system. But the justice system seems pretty solid conceptually. Sure there are tremendous inequalities of representation - rich man's vs. poor man's justice, etc. But those are problems of the larger society. Seems like arguing out disputes before a jury composed of ordinary citizens is a fundamentally great idea.
Doug
^^^^^ CB: This is a vintage lbo thread topic, but I can't recall what Lazare proposes to replace the constitutional system ( as opposed to changing-amending the Constitution). By the way, another great part of the U.S. Constitutional system is that the Constitution may be changed ( I know, except for abolishing the Senate).