Justice

[ElwoodBlues1]

When you read that a couple and their unborn child were killed due to the criminal activity of a 17 year old, most of us go straight to vengeance - dash out the pr1ck's brains on a rock, kind of stuff.

Justice is a funny word these days. It did meant something, once. Then along came lawyers. Then as lawyers became smarter, more manipulative, more charming and even theatrical... accountability became watered down, and 'negotiable'. Very wealthy people and organisations know that. Hell, lawyers are taught how to 'use/manipulate the system'.

So if our 17 year old alleged murderer gets the right lawyers... why, heck, there's diminished responsibility due to drugs, then there's mental health issues, awful upbringing issues and the mitigation list continues. So it ends up being 4th degree manslaughter and 3 years... or something like that. And mum and dad and their unborn remain dead.

So, in the interests of equity (forget justice, that was bought and sold yonks ago), what do we do? (Remembering that equity, in this context, is the application of the spirit of a law (and not so much the letter-of-the-law), where fairness is paramount.)

Scenarios like this will just keep repeating until we make serious, very serious progress in:

Addressing in a meaningful way all the components that contributed to a person ending up so fck up that they flagrantly break the law and cause so much damage, criminal damage, life ending damage.

Get a far, far greater understanding of mental health/illness... holy cr@p, it's at the very core of so much criminality.

Prevention culture/attitude.

Truly understand that mitigation (eg mental health issue) may explain the crime but in no way whatsoever excuses, moderates or lessens the crime in any way at all. So, regardless, accountability needs to remain paramount.

Our Justice system is based on the premise that it offers rehabilitation not just punishment and especially for minors.
Frustrating for those who want instant gratification and offenders fried in a chair or swinging from a gallows but thats
what evolution and education has provided modern society.
Mental illness is a card that gets played every day in courts as offenders look to dumb their sentence down and serve time in mental health institutions rather than jail and its an area of law that needs more attention IMHO.