Slow Justice

Cops and robbers seem so simple. The bad guys wield guns, enter a store or bank, an alarm is sounded, and the cops surround the building and arrest the bad guys. From start to finish an interesting story and a fast one at that. But wait, that is not the end of the tale.

Yep, now starts the lawyer and court saga. The jailed bad guys have a right to a lawyer, then an interview, then negotiations for bond while awaiting trial. The procedures leading to court time are lengthy and time consuming. All of these steps ensure that the person charged with a crime has ample opportunity to prove his innocence when at trial. Often the time drain is too much for prosecutors and police agencies, so deals are made for lesser charges and smaller penalties for a guilty plea. This saves court time and everyone else’s time leading up to the trial date. So, a guilty party doesn’t always pay for the crime, or even pay the proper penalty when pled to a lesser charge.

While all of this is going one, the harmed parties, the people left damaged by the bad guys, continue to suffer their losses, injuries or death.

A speedy trial is a right of the defendant. Not so the plaintiff.

So, where’s the justice in this? Foot dragging has tortured the speedy trial part of this picture. But then, place yourself in the defendant’s place and know you are innocent. Where are the rights and procedures ensuring you get a fair deal in court to prove your innocence? Exactly! There is nothing right about convicting an innocent party.

Now, pivot to the legal games played by the Trump people. They have acted irresponsibly because they could, loaded the criminal justice system with myriad offenses, knowing they could frustrate the system at every turn by throwing lawyers in the way. Weeks turn into months, months turn into years, and so on. Finally, in exasperation, the system throws out the small stuff, focuses resources on the more important charges, and then proceeds to court with heavier cases and penalties. A couple of years later those cases come to trial and the public is treated to the signs of justice. Penalties, however, have been watered down, but the conviction is won. At long last. To serve as proof that justice is served.

It hasn’t, though. It has been mocked into submission. The guilty get away with a lot just because we protect the innocent in our society. That is the yin and yang of our system of criminal justice.

I despise this problem. But I go along with it because it protects me from being proven guilty when I am innocent.

That doesn’t make it any easier to accept the mockery foisted on Americans by the nasty business of the Trump minions. Sad but true. I guess the political noise is worth it to them. And to their gullible minions.

October 24, 2022

  

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