The American public has always been fascinated by tragedy. Why? It's in our human nature, as we tend to gravitate towards viewing other people's mistakes or failures as if they were as valuable and watchable as someone's victories. Add such a tragic event broadcast on television and you have a hit with ordinary Americans. The OJ Simpson trial was a turning point not only in the American justice system, but it completely changed the idea that there was no longer any racial division in our country. People suddenly saw our justice system as a broken and failed section of our government because of the outcome of the trial. Orenthal James "OJ" Simpson was born on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California. At the local high school he soon became a football star, eventually attending the University of Southern California on an athletic scholarship (Baughman). There he excelled at the sport and soon made it to the NFL playing for teams like the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. He also made a breakthrough in the film industry right before deciding to retire from his professional football career. Overall, during the 1970s and 1980s, Simpson was a figure that the American public admired and considered a positive influence and icon. During his football and acting career Simpson was married to his first wife Marguerite Whitley, together they had three children, but they soon divorced in late 1979 after the travesty of one of their children drowning in the family pool (Baughman). Simpson had many victories and triumphs in his life, but he also had struggles and conflicts. Although he was still dating his wife, Simpson began dating Nicole Brown whom he had first met in 1977. They eventually married in 1985 having two children. The marriage between... middle of paper... lled believed the verdict was fair ("The Trial"). Another reason why this trial was important to the American justice system and overall history is because, although there was a lot of evidence pointing to Simpson as being guilty of the murder, he had some of the best lawyers in the business and that showed the public American that maybe money or even celebrity status could get you out of murder. People began to think that if money has anything to do with whether or not you are to blame for something, poverty will guarantee you injustice (“OJ”). The case called into question fundamental principles of US law such as the presumption of innocence, adversarial proceedings and the right to trial by jury (Kronenwetter). Many people believe that you cannot understand the legal system until you understand the OJ Simpson trial, and it is a trial that will always be remembered (“OJ”).