With magic on her side and Veritserum available to the courts, not to mention pensieves where the jury could actually see the events for which the defendant was on trial, there was no reason why she could not have a 100% conviction rate with only the guilty actually going to Azkaban. Yet, she didn't use the tools available to her or even prosecute all the crimes brought to her attention. She was said to be an impartial woman who truly only saw the law as an absolute but Harry didn't agree as he knew for a fact she allowed the Minister and the Wizengamot tell her who she could bring to trial and when a trial was over. She also allowed them to apply the law willy nilly whenever the accused was someone they didn't like or dismiss it when the accused was a friend of the Ministry. Therefore, she wasn't a fair and impartial woman sworn and dedicated to upholding the law absolutely as the Ministry claimed. He wouldn't go so far as to say she was for sale like so many of her colleagues but under her authority not everyone received justice either. Justice was for sale to the highest bidder.
Albus sat here in his ivory tower playing games with the lives of children and the people applauded him for it. He openly brought danger into the school where their children were defenseless against it. Then sat back in his tower wringing his hands and claiming he had no idea what the problem was while he waited to see who if any would fall victim to the menace he'd unleashed on them. And when Harry found and fought the danger he'd allowed in, he took the credit for it as if he'd done the deed himself. Safety was an undervalued commodity and Albus Dumbledore didn't have the going price to buy it.
In the courts, he decided who was guilty from who wasn't just like he did in the school when two or more students had a difference of opinion. Because he was Albus Dumbledore, he was able to ram his views down the throats of the others. Though there really wasn't much ramming involved. Usually all he had to do was point and talk, smile a bit and twinkle his eyes, talk some more and the people fell in line. He openly told bald faced lies and the people ate it up, accepting it as truth without question even when his words made no sense and weren't based on anything substantial. Truth was in the ear of the listener and the people of Britain were listening to a liar.
Case in point; he told Cornelius and Amelia at the end of the Tournament that Harry had been whisked away from the school grounds to take part in the rebirthing ceremony of the Dark Lord. Yes, that is what had happened but he hadn't talked to Harry at that point so how did he know? Where had he gotten his information and for how long had he had it? And why then didn't he do something to prevent it from occurring? They had no reason to accept his word for it because both knew he himself hadn't left the grounds. But he fully expected both of them to believe him simply because that's what he said had happened. He offered them no proof except to bring them to the infirmary the following morning where he'd expected Harry to confirm it for him. As if that would be proof enough.
Or worse yet. His words to them contradicted something else he had said. Or evidence gathered. Such as in the case of Sirius Black where in 1981 he was the one to tell them Sirius Black was the Potter Secret keeper and should be quietly shut away for the good of society. Then after the werewolf incident in Harry's third year, he tried to turn around and tell the Minister he was an innocent man wrongly convicted. In neither situation did he offer any proof and in both cases he expected his word to be the deciding factor. And in both cases he was lying. The first time his lies were believed and they got Sirius sent to Azkaban without the courtesy of a trial. But in the second instance, he claimed Sirius was convicted. This time the Minister refused to believe him and Amelia claimed she wouldn't act without proof since Sirius Black was now Dementor Kissed. Clearing him now would do nothing but stir up the people to no good end while eating up resources she didn't have to spare for a man who couldn't be helped.
Between them, Albus and Cornelius decided who was guilty of what in Magical Britain. And everyone else, the public, fell in line with their decision. They might grumble about it in the streets, stores and cafes or the privacy of their homes. But they'd never stand up and try to change it or point out the inconsistencies in their decisions. Yes, justice was for sale in Magical Britain.
The accepted newspaper made a habit out of printing gossip, rumor and innuendo as truth and no one gave it a second thought. The magical press told the populace what to think about the issues and the people who ran their world. But the people seemed perfectly content to let them, never once questioning what they read. Often the reporters took their direction from the Ministry, choosing to write their stories according to how the Ministry wanted a story to seem. While they could rip into the Ministry just as easily as they did anyone else, it wasn't likely they would. And if they did it, was because someone higher up in the ministry and far more popular or influential wanted said person destroyed.
While there were other sources of news like the Wireless, they weren't hard copy. People could listen and hear what the reporters said on the radio and even agree with the commentators. But later in the day when they wanted to refer to something they heard, to prove it they had to go to the paper which often didn't slant the top stories in the same direction. So the paper was the main source of news for the masses and their writings were seen as proof of the truth. Or at least what the Ministry decided was the truth.
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