Woe for Our [In]Justice System

In the old-time movies, when things would get out of hand during a trial scene, someone would shout “ORDER IN THE COURT!!!” over and over.

I think that command is sorely needed today, folks.

Our Criminal Justice System has become precisely that—CRIMINAL. The system has become schizophrenic, it seems, as we are witnessing the slaughter of innocents who are basically cast aside by this inane and corrupt system.

For example, take the story of Ester Lebovita. Ester, at the age of 11, was sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a hammer. The man responsible for the crime confessed, was found guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison. Today, that killer—Wayne Stephen Young—wants the same “get out of jail free” pass as the other convicted killers who have supposedly aged past the point of committing crimes. You see, Young is 68, which means he might live another 20 years breathing the air of freedom while Esther lies buried in a grave someplace.

Is that fair? Forgive my language, but hell no!

But, apparently, it is just fine for many in our justice (or injustice) system—a system that is diseased to its very core.

As in any disease there must be symptoms, signs that point to a diagnosis. We’ll take a look at some, but let me remunerate for a moment before we go there.

I spent 39 years working in the justice system, where I stood by and just grinned at the craziness of the courts. I my eyes, these men in black [robes] weren’t monster killers like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones; rather, they were the monsters.

Now back to the symptoms and diagnosis part of this blog.

Bill O’Reilly’s The O’Reilly Factor reported this about a judge who spun out of control by sentencing this child molester to a 60 day term.

Justice for the victims? Hell no! A mistake by the judge? You think so???

Here is a good one by the Sun’s Justin Fenton. A judge sentences a man to six life terms plus 100 years. That seems crazy because, once the defendant is assigned to the Department of Corrections, that agency makes the rules. Who knows how much time that criminal will actually spend behind bars once you subtract good time credit, minimum time served, parole, and so on.

Another case in point is the shooting of a city police sergeant in which the suspect was released early from a previous murder conviction.

Justice served? Again, hell no!

Money talks, so the ones with the money walk.

Justice served? I think you know the answer…

So, by now, I am sure you can see where I’m headed with this blog. I’m referring to a column I wrote on Sun Columnist Dan Rodricks and his belief that the court made the right decision in dealing with these convicted murders serving life sentences and releasing them based on an error by the courts that happened 30 years ago. There has never been a trial that I saw that wasn’t fraught with errors in some way or the other.

Apparently, because of these prisoners’ ages, Mr. Rodricks feels keeping them locked up is a tragedy. I did not know there was an age limit on punishment, or on crime for that matter. So, are we to assume that, under Rodricks’ law, a person over a certain age who commits murder has a low threshold for the amount of time served?

Just ask the folks in New York what the age limit on murder is after this incident. Thankfully, that one took care of itself, but there were still young lives lost—a tragedy.

Mr. Rodricks also believes it’s wrong to check a person’s background for employment purposes thinking it won’t do much. I’m sure that Mr. Rodricks would want to know about the background of this person babysitting his children, just like other parents would.

It does sound silly because, on a work application, one is asked everything else about his/her life, such as previous work experience, education, race, and Social Security number. I would think something as important as a criminal background should be listed as well, but what do I know?

Well, I know that, on average, a sex offender serves 3 ½ years of an 8 year sentence and is 4 times more likely to be rearrested for another crime. I also know that up to 10% of drug homicides are committed by repeat offenders. (By the way, on that subject, our Attorney General does not like that idea either.)

The reason for the MD court decision is based in improper jury instruction, but that doesn’t ever make the list on the most serious types of errors impacting a criminal trial.

Let’s get one thing straight, folks. The courts in this country are not objective; rather, they are subjective because the whole system is based on manipulation of people—judges, jurors, victims, witnesses, and even the accused. Human thoughts are marred in idealistic concepts that are directly opposed to the reality of life in the real world.

Thus we have the “criminal” justice system that appears to gaze at the sun too long. That can burn your eyes no matter how bright your idealistic world is.