Why is american judicial process so lacking in functionality?

a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/homeless-woman-prosecuted-for-enrolling-son-in-conn-school#mwpphu-post-form"http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout…/a and they give Lindsay Lohan break after break!