OPINION - Today Reuters reported that man state and local governments are being forced to lay off workers. Those layoffs, according to the report, will cause a trickle down effect into the private sector. The logic in economic terms is sound. If local and state workers are out of jobs, they will not be spending in the private sector, causing a ripple effect.

Economics authors on Wall Street and throughout the nation concentrate on private sector services and complimentary government services such as trash, water, electricity and sewer services. These are the obvious ones. If there's a heap of garbage outside the local steakhouse because the city can't afford to employ people to pick it up, then the steakhouse is going to lose business.

Often overlooked is the criminal justice system. Most of the players in the system are employed at the local and state levels, and there are relatively few federal judges, prosecutors and public defenders.

There could easily be a domino effect. If, for example, a county starts laying off prosecutors (or just has a hiring freeze in this high-turnover position), the remaining prosecutors will be forced to take on more and more cases. The more criminal cases a lawyer handles, the less likely they are to do a good job on any of the cases. Therefore, more cases start slipping through the cracks, more lenient plea bargains are cut, and fewer cases get charged.

Same goes for police officers. The fewer cops that patrol the streets and work the serious cases, the fewer arrests are made and the fewer prosecutions there are.

Fewer prosecutions mean less of a need for judges. Fewer judges means less of a need for court clerks, bailiffs, janitors, security guards, copy machine technicians and so on.

Fewer prosecutions also means less revenue coming into the counties and cities in the form of fines and court costs.

Budget cuts in local jails force jailers to release inmates early. In some jurisdictions, the message is being sent that a jail sentence really doesn't mean going to jail at all. Or you just check in and then check out.

The justice system is a large part of the nation's economy, not to mention it's moral backbone. If the local justice systems are not infused with money, and fast, we could very easily witness the deterioration of the country to the point where children born today will never live in an America that is as great as their parents remember.

So, when it comes to bailouts, let's look at the local justice systems. As criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors across the nation will testify, much of the system is in decline and disrepair. Law is no longer a beacon to attract the nation's best and brightest young minds. The message we are sending is go to Wall Street. We need to shape up and take pride in our justice system now, or we might as well give up on the America we once knew.