Justice, does it work?

“Justice.” Pretty word isn’t it? Supposedly means keeping order in society and making sure the righteous are rewarded and the guilty punished. Seems simple right? So why does it seem so complicated? From what I have seen from various sources, the process seems to be, someone commits a crime, the police investigate, if they can find the trail to the one responsible evidence is gathered, the person arrested and then charges are brought. The person is brought to trial, on the rare occasion they plead guilty, they are sentenced and punishment given. However, if a not guilty plea is given, the lawyers argue to the judge what evidence is presentable to the jury, it could be a damning video of the deed being done but still ruled out because it was taken without consent or some other technicality. Maybe it was a gun with only the person’s finger prints and bullets that match the one in a body. Either way, a murderer could walk free.

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Supposing then a conviction has been granted. Sentencing can sometimes be disproportionate to the crime. An example would be in recent news of a very young boy, known in the media as “Baby P”. A child who for 8 of his 17 month life in horrific agony at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend and someone else living with them at the time. The mother has been held until “She is no longer a threat to small children”. The boyfriend had been given at least 12 years and the lodger at least 3. However this is not the end of it. Social workers who had failed to take actions dispite repeated checks on the child and calls from concerned people. The people have been sacked and rightly so, yet they themselves cry out for “justice” by attempting to sue for compensation.

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So, does our system of justice work, or is there room for improvement, or a complete overhaul? During this age of CCTV, DNA testing, and various other forensic breakthroughs, does the process need to take as long as it does? And what of the punishments? I personally believe they should fit the nature and extent of the crime. Those who would beat, torture and kill children should come to a fitting end. “But what of the chance of rehabilitation? How can they learn their lessons if they are dead?” If permited to live, would they really learn their lessons or would they carry on as if their incarceration never happened? “So what would be the point?” The point is to show other would be child torturers/killers that it will not be tolerated and if you can act so inhumane, you will not have “human rights” to protect you. If you are a rapist, you are violating the sexual freedom of others and therefore should be expected to forfeit your own. I suggest surgically removing of reproductive hardware in such a case. If you steal, you must be made to give to the victim objects or funds or combination thereof to the victim. And if any evidence is damning, regardless of circumstances of its acquisition, then it must be used. Only swift, hard justice is true justice. Anything else, is simply a waste of time.