While America is proud of a justice system that was designed to provide true justice in as many cases and situations as possible, even such an excellent system has faults and errors. Over the many years, we have witnessed the weakness of our justice system, particularly when it appears that those with power and money seem to get away with obviously wrong doings.
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A perfect example is the situation that occurred in 2008, when the banking industry caused a financial meltdown, from which we are still recovering. Preliminary investigations proved that improper and unethical actions taken by banks who considered themselves to be too big to fail, but not at all too big to operate honestly and with trust, were shown to have taken actions that directly impacted thousands of middle and working class families through bad mortgages that were pushed upon the public.
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One astute person who not only foresaw the bursting of this bubble, but was also willing to battle these banking behemoths was Mitchell J. Stein. As a practicing attorney from California, Mitchell J. Stein was well situated to lodge a lawsuit against hundreds of banks and their many subsidiaries on behalf of these middle and working class victims. So he did just that, and his reward for defending the rights of thousands of Americans was to have the government go after him based upon nebulous charges.
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In addition to having both his personal and business assets frozen, thousands of his client files were also seized by the Justice Department. His law firm has already been exonerated by the State Bar of California, yet his assets remain frozen and Mitchell J. Stein remains in prison, with the threat of a lifetime sentence.
While everyone involved is certain that Mitchell J. Stein will win his appeal, this action is clearly a blot upon the ideals of justice, especially in America where we are supposed to be assumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of doubt. Every person who believes in true justice needs to stand up for the rights of Mitchell J. Stein.