Describe Justice? I might as well describe what thoughts look like. It is uncatchable, intangible - perhaps, impossible?
The problem that I find with The Law is that it seeks to find this thing "Justice". (No one stopped to think that maybe Justice wanted to be left alone?) But it does so with these two ends: guilty or not guilty. Never innocent! "I'm innocent," you may cry. "No, that's wrong. You're not guilty." Where's the justice in that?
And another thing. Those two sentences - guilty or not guilty - create only two options. Justice can only be found at two opposite ends of a wide spectrum. There is black. Then all the other way over there - see it? - is white.
But aren't you forgetting? Life isn't black in white, no! It's a hundred million shades of gray. So Justice has become thrusting a gray situation under a microscope, compare it to a few paint swatches perhaps, and decide if it is closest to black or white. Then it dumps it into the appropriate container. That's what the law is: forcing gray to be black or white.
One more thing. Who came up with the phrase "Justice is served". It makes me think of juries wearing lunch lady hairnets, menacingly shaking ladles of mystery casserole. Now Justice is just quite grotesque.
your lunch lady juries made me lol
ReplyDeleteWell, technically, the law does provide multiple shades of gray (btw, grey or gray?). Except, you still have to say if those grays are true or not. Like, it might not be first degree murder, but maybe second degree murder. It may not be second degree murder, but manslaughter. If not manslaughter, then maybe negligence? And so on so there are degrees of harshness/leniency, but you still have to make a choice on guilt or innocence.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of innocence, having the guilty/not guilty is much better for the defendant than having guilty/not guilty/innocent. I think they have that 3 part system in some countries where you can plea for not guilty or innocence, but if you had that, then you'd have to prove innocence. Of course, then defense would have to prove something if they plead innocent, and that just makes it more likely people will be dealt undeserved punishment. It's also more complicated. Therefore, the guilty/not guilty thing is much better. Sure, you don't get the court to say you're innocent, but it's a lot easier for you to disprove prosecution than prove defense. :p