Justice or compassion

I recently saw a commentary on TV about an African American who had been on death row for thirty years in Alabama for a crime he did not commit. Another person recently confessed to the crime and he was released. The case had been poorly handled to begin with. The man had received poor legal counsel, African Americans were eliminated from jury selection, no witnesses, no murder weapon and only circumstantial evidence. A rush to judgment that would send a man to his death. This is just one of many cases where death row convictions have been found to be inaccurate.

 

Once the man was released from prison he was found to have stage four lung cancer and died shortly thereafter. When he was released the state gave him a $20 gift card and sent him on his way. While he was entitled to some compensation for being falsely incarcerated for almost his whole life the state said that since nothing was done illegally and since he had previous knowledge that a crime that he didn't bring forward he wasn't going to receive anything.

 

The state prosecutor was asked if he felt that was fair and if he, like many others, had any compassion for the man and what he had been through. The prosecutor said that he was not in. The compassion business and he was just following the law. A mistake was made thirty years ago, the state corrected it, and they were done. They had followed the law at the first trial and they were continuing to follow the law (the ones that fit them). Right or wrong has nothing to do with it. Justice is what they provide and he received delayed justice when he was released. 

 

Our justice system has become a farce for both justice and compassion. The laws are used to "punish" rather that "protect" the citizens. Ask any black person what the results of challenging a police command, even if being calm and non combative. Many people are incarcerated under mandatory sentence laws which do not take into account reasonable sense or compassion for the circumstances. Get killed for having a gun, rather well or fake, even in the same place where  white citizens can brazenly display guns and rifles in public. Criminals are released without even having a trial due to the plea bargaining by attorneys and judges.

 

I would hope that our legal system would be run to provide justice in a reasonable, even  handed, and compassionate manner. Serious crimes should have serious penalties but we should make sure as best we can that we get it right. Justice and compassion do not have to be mutually exclusive. We have more laws than any other country in the world, and by far more people incarcerated.  

The Haves and The Have Nots

There is a new television show on called the "Haves and The Have Nots". It is about two different families. One rich,white and in power, and the other a black family with the matriarch being their maid. The black family comes from a lower class neighborhood,and she has a daughter who has been in trouble and is desirous of the good life. By being an escort she makes her way into the lives of the Haves,and extorts her way to wealth for a while. Of course there are other character and there is way more to the story,but what strikes me the most is that our country and society is actually set up like this. 

America was established with a system whereby there were three classes. The rich, the middle class, and the poor. The poor didn't include slaves,which were considered property, and not even people. There have always been Haves and Have Nots in America. It is funny to me that some politicians argue that providing services for the poor,by having the rich pay more, is some form of socialism. We will never have a society in America where everyone receives equal treatment and wealth is shared, because  that simply is not America or Capitalism.

All the wars that have been fought in this country, particularly the Civil War, were about maintaining the level of the rich. While slavery was an issue at the time, the idea of succession from the union and the effects it would have on commerce and trade were far more important, and actually resulted in the war. Since the states had the power to make their own laws slavery could have continued. But what would have happened to the workforce in the north or the industrial revolution, had this occurred? If history is honestly reviewed, not by the tainted way that it is presented in our schools textbooks, this would be obvious. But that is our dirty little secret and it plays better say Lincoln went to war to free the slaves.

Look at today's economy and our democracy and anyone can see that the country is more divided along these economical lines that be race. Race is an issue for blacks because they started below the Have Nots, and through the civil rights movement have been able to more "up" to the level of poor whites and even middle class. There are even those who are Haves. 

The key to America is that the founding fathers, who were Haves by the way, wrote the constitution and the bill of rights to say that "everyone" had the right, and could become a Have, here in this new country. Easily said and a great morale compass, but very hard to accomplish by many. Some say it is the individuals fault since the opportunity is there. But for many Have Nots the opportunity is not there, or has always been the case, the Haves will do anything in there power to prevent it and maintain their level of supremacy.