The Best Justice System in the World

The Best Justice System in the World takes an irreverent, darkly humorous look at how the right to a jury trial has been steadily pushed out of the American justice system. Moving through criminal and civil cases, the film examines what happens when decisions that can alter the course of a person's life are placed in the hands of prosecutors, judges, and private arbitrators - some of whom can be bought and paid for. Along the way, the film follows people who have experienced the consequences firsthand, including individuals pressured to plead guilty under the threat of dramatically longer prison sentences, people imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, and workers prevented from bringing their cases before a jury of their peers.At the center of the film is director Suja A. Thomas, a lawyer and law professor who has spent decades studying the American justice system and questioning how much power has shifted away from ordinary citizens. Blending investigation, personal experience, and comedy, Thomas travels through the institutions that shape the justice system; questioning police officers, prosecutors, judges, and other lawyers while examining the human cost of losing the jury as a safeguard. Her investigation ultimately takes her to the United Kingdom, where a comparison with its legal system raises a larger question: if the American system no longer works the way most people believe it does, what could a better one look like?