Our system of criminal law is based on the theory that
Justice with a capital ‘J’ is blind to everything but the truth. That the accused is innocent until proven
guilty. That guilt must be established
beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The problem with being a nation of laws is that to keep that
nation lawful, we must support the laws even when we occasionally do not agree
with the results of those laws. The problem is also that sometimes justice is
blind because those who have the responsibility for processing justice are
incapable of performing their responsibilities.
That courts can be totally inept in their work and allow the guilty to
go free. And sometimes allow the innocent to
be punished.
But it is important to remember that no one ever escapes the
consequences of their actions, and those who commit crimes or behavior
which harm others are marked not with just the law’s judgment but also with society’s
judgment and with consequences not always immediately visible, but which are there
within them, irrevocably. There is another old
saying which is paraphrased here: “We
are not punished as much for our crimes as by them.” Or in other words, "what goes around comes around."
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