Life is a never ending search for justice. Whether that is economic justice (equal distribution of wealth) or social justice, we never stop trying to create a more fair and just society. Our nation was founded on this idea, hence the "Bill of Rights" and our system of trial by jury, however justice is never fully realized. The very nature of the jury trial system leads to an inbalance between those who are rich and those who are poor, those who are white and those who are Arab, and those who are ugly and those who are gorgeous. The other major problem with the trial system are the lawyers and their natural competitiveness and egos.
We all remember the OJ Simpson trial and how it made celebrities of Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran (JC) and even Judge Ito. What we also remember is how OJ was found not guilty despite the fact that he was declared to be responsible for Nicole Brown's death in a civil court. JC used his famous "Wookiee Defense" in the South Park episode "Chef Aid" back in 1998. Confusing the jury with questions about Chewbacca, JC somehow gets them to rule against Chef and even fine him for harrassment of a record company because they could afford JC and the best Lawyer Chef could afford was Kyle's dad. This satirization of our legal system was hilarious but also very true. Juries are generally not made up of the best and brightest and the lawyers manipulate their lack of legal expertise in order to get the result they are seeking in the trial. Therefore, whoever can afford the best lawyer will win the case.
The way our system works you can be completely innocent of rape, but if you have a public defender facing off against a hardline prosecutor who had been sexually assaulted earlier in her life, you are facing a severly uphill battle for your freedom. I bring this up because of a recent story I heard from a prosecutor who had taken that career path because she was raped and wanted to help put away other rapists. The problem with this is that once a man is arrested for rape, it doesn't matter to the prosecutor if he's innocent or not. The motivation of the prosecutor is to win the case no matter what. If they win, they are satisfied that justice has been done, even if the exact opposite happens. Anyone who thinks that our jury trial system is flawless is just plain stupid. The innocence project has had people who were incarcerated for 20+ years released because DNA evidence later found them to be innocent of the crime which ruined their life. In essence, prosecutors are just as bad as the criminals when someone is wrongfully convicted because they are stealing years and money away from the defendant.
Our system of justice is also flawed because it is based on the idea that revenge makes up for loss. The death penalty may rid the planet of a murderer, but it also causes those close to the executed to experience loss. The case of Tookie Williams proved this perfectly. While he was a thug and the founder of the most violent street gang in the US, he was also a hero to many kids who came from similar situations to his. He wrote books that gave some people a reason to stay away from gangs, and his execution (as evidenced by the many vigils) brought sadness to many. You can't give back a life no matter what you do, so instead of killing these people, why not just commit them to become slaves for the victim's family?
My grandfather was murdered before I was born, so his killers robbed me of having a full family growing up. My father is a supporter of the death penalty because of what he went through after his father was beaten into a coma which lasted more than 6 months before he passed away. My personal feeling is that if someone is useless to society, they shouldn't be wasting our resources, but who are we to determine someone's value? Life in prison can sometimes be a fate worse than death, and there is always that spectre of innocence within every convict. There are many behind bars who committed a crime who are better people than free men who have never broken the law or been caught. Who's to say that a man selling crack to help support his child is more of a criminal than a factory owner who exploits the labor of his workers to accrue a net worth 100x of what they could ever dream of?
As long as there is inequality in society, there will never be justice.
We all remember the OJ Simpson trial and how it made celebrities of Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran (JC) and even Judge Ito. What we also remember is how OJ was found not guilty despite the fact that he was declared to be responsible for Nicole Brown's death in a civil court. JC used his famous "Wookiee Defense" in the South Park episode "Chef Aid" back in 1998. Confusing the jury with questions about Chewbacca, JC somehow gets them to rule against Chef and even fine him for harrassment of a record company because they could afford JC and the best Lawyer Chef could afford was Kyle's dad. This satirization of our legal system was hilarious but also very true. Juries are generally not made up of the best and brightest and the lawyers manipulate their lack of legal expertise in order to get the result they are seeking in the trial. Therefore, whoever can afford the best lawyer will win the case.
The way our system works you can be completely innocent of rape, but if you have a public defender facing off against a hardline prosecutor who had been sexually assaulted earlier in her life, you are facing a severly uphill battle for your freedom. I bring this up because of a recent story I heard from a prosecutor who had taken that career path because she was raped and wanted to help put away other rapists. The problem with this is that once a man is arrested for rape, it doesn't matter to the prosecutor if he's innocent or not. The motivation of the prosecutor is to win the case no matter what. If they win, they are satisfied that justice has been done, even if the exact opposite happens. Anyone who thinks that our jury trial system is flawless is just plain stupid. The innocence project has had people who were incarcerated for 20+ years released because DNA evidence later found them to be innocent of the crime which ruined their life. In essence, prosecutors are just as bad as the criminals when someone is wrongfully convicted because they are stealing years and money away from the defendant.
Our system of justice is also flawed because it is based on the idea that revenge makes up for loss. The death penalty may rid the planet of a murderer, but it also causes those close to the executed to experience loss. The case of Tookie Williams proved this perfectly. While he was a thug and the founder of the most violent street gang in the US, he was also a hero to many kids who came from similar situations to his. He wrote books that gave some people a reason to stay away from gangs, and his execution (as evidenced by the many vigils) brought sadness to many. You can't give back a life no matter what you do, so instead of killing these people, why not just commit them to become slaves for the victim's family?
My grandfather was murdered before I was born, so his killers robbed me of having a full family growing up. My father is a supporter of the death penalty because of what he went through after his father was beaten into a coma which lasted more than 6 months before he passed away. My personal feeling is that if someone is useless to society, they shouldn't be wasting our resources, but who are we to determine someone's value? Life in prison can sometimes be a fate worse than death, and there is always that spectre of innocence within every convict. There are many behind bars who committed a crime who are better people than free men who have never broken the law or been caught. Who's to say that a man selling crack to help support his child is more of a criminal than a factory owner who exploits the labor of his workers to accrue a net worth 100x of what they could ever dream of?
As long as there is inequality in society, there will never be justice.
posted by Dan Pasternack at 12:09 PM
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