Although this article was written some time ago, it is even more relevant to today than when it was first posted. I admit to being a reactionary old son of a bitch and remain so because Justice is not practiced in the United States and has not been practiced for a long time. We have criminals set free while victims of the criminals are left to suffer. To what end?? Justice can only be served when the criminal is punished for the deeds they commit. A return to harsh Justice, public and visible to one and all, must take center stage if the lawlessness of this current age is to be corrected. If my views offend the sensitive, that’s just too damn bad. I have NO consideration for the perpetrator, my sympathies lie with the victim!!!
What is justice? “Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense”. Cicero, Roman Orator (106-43 BC). Justice is the combination of civility and morality bound together under the law to safeguard the peace and security of a society.
Justice is often administered by the judicial system, is it therefore law? “What is in conformity with justice should also be in conformity to the laws”. Socrates, Greek Philosopher. (469-399 BC) Justice may be directed by the force of law but is not obligated to follow the dictates of law.
Is justice blind? “Justice discards party, friendship and kindred, and is therefore represented as blind”. Joseph Addison, English Philosopher (1672-1719) Justice may be blind, but judges and court administrators often pervert the intent of both Justice and the Law.
Some crimes are so vicious and heinous that they call out for extreme measures that defy and deny any response of compassion and mercy for the perpetrator. And yet the scriptures admonish us to show mercy and compassion; Zechariah 7- 9; This is what the Lord God Almighty says, ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another’. Herein lies our problem, how do we show mercy and compassion for a person or persons who have committed evil and egregious acts against one or more of the community?
Is the death penalty justice or retribution? ”Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully”. Proverbs 28-5. Opponents of the death penalty decry its cruelty, but that does not express compassion for the victim, only mercy for the perpetrator.
The penalties prescribed in the book of Leviticus are severe, from being put to death by being burned, by the sword or by stoning. Also quite severe was banishment, banishment often was a death sentence due to the precarious nature of life. For justice to have meaning it must have consequences and let the punishment fit the crime.
An eye for an eye is biblical, is it harsh? No doubt, but the punishment certainly fits the crime.
“Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful is just”. Blaise Pascal, French Mathematician and Philosopher. (1623-1662). In order to facilitate justice the judiciary must have the power to pass sentences that reflect the theme of “let the punishment fit the crime”. But that power must be used with due care, often judges subvert the intent of not only the law but the intent of juries as well.
Vigilante Justice, was it justice? Or mob rule? This is an issue long debated, not only its legal standing, but its value to the community. “The just, though they hate evil, yet give men a patient hearing; hoping that they will show proofs that they are not evil”. Sir Philip Sidney, English Soldier and Poet (1554-1586). Using this principle vigilante justice may be viewed as justifiable.
Often in this nation’s past, the only law available was vigilante justice. In the absence of, or the overload of official law enforcement, this was the only avenue for crime to be recognized and the culprits brought to justice. “Justice delayed is justice denied”. Wm. E. Gladstone, English Statesman (1809-1898). Was this the justification for frontier justice to often culminate in summary justice? On many occasions the facts were so apparent, and the crime so egregious to the community that summary execution was justified in the minds of the community.
For instance, a bank robbery was devastating to a community as that was the major part of the money supply the town’s merchants depended on to be able to transact business. There was no FDIC to cover losses, no recovery unless the citizenry formed a posse and ran the culprits to ground. Unless the posse was able to catch the robbers and recover the money, the depositor was often left with nothing but a bad taste for bad men and banks.
The Death Penalty, is it Justice or Retribution? So far as I can determine, the death penalty is somewhat meaningless. Years of appeals and delays, do nothing to bring closure for the victims and their families. The perpetrator is guaranteed a speedy trial while the victims must languish through lengthy appeal processes sans the compassion and mercy accorded the guilty.
Justice prevails when the sentence of the court is carried out in its entirety, thereby punishing the guilty and bringing closure to the victims. “The criminal law is not founded on the principle of vengeance; it uses evil only as the means of preventing greater evil”. Daniel Webster American Orator and Statesman (1782-1852). Using Mr. Webster’s formula while adding the theorem of “let the punishment fit the crime”, we have arrived at true Justice. Therefore it is appropriate that the punishment of crime afford the victim closure and the guilty a deserved sentence.
The Death Penalty is supposed to be a deterrent to crime. How can this be when all executions are carried out in the middle of the night and tightly closeted in the most secure of prisons? Oh yeah, there are witnesses, persons who have a vested interest in seeing the guilty punished. But for the death penalty to have any real impact, it needs to be public. It should never be the party spectacle of a bygone era, but rather a somber affair, one that befits the enforcement of a sentence of death.
The claim by some that public execution is, “cruel and unusual treatment”, have clearly not studied the history of this nation. What a scurrilous charge that what was once looked upon as a necessary part of our system of jurisprudence must now be hidden away so as to not offend the sensitivities of a select few. In our own history people were held in stocks, publicly whipped and hanged all in the public arena as prescribed by law, thereby dispensing Justice publicly.
The toughest sheriff in America, former Sheriff of Maricopa County Arizona, Joe Arpio, ran what is called the toughest jail in America. Even after numerous jaw-boning attempts by high government officials and law suits to force changes in Sheriff Arpio’s jail, all have come to naught. Why? Because Joe Arpio operates his jail within the confines of LAW. The tough guys say they don’t want to go back to Sheriff Joe’s jail. Sheriff Joe’s tent city jail is either infamous or glorious depending on your point of view. Visual Justice is Justice meted.
Immigration, specifically ‘illegal immigration’ and Justice, are the two compatible? A thorny question but a legitimate one with this caveat. It must be understood clearly that US immigration law was broken. Of that there is NO doubt. The question is one of adjudication.
The United States is being invaded, a horde of people streaming across our southern border that may well contain members of Islamic jihad; while our government does nothing to stop the flow. They as well as we know that summary deportations are the only viable answer to an historic invasion. That stops the inflow, now comes the part of locating and deporting not only the criminal element among the illegal immigrant population but all who entered this nation illegally. For Justice to have meaning, it must be levied equally to all.
Then there is the fraud committed against the American Public by individuals. Welfare fraud, Medicaid fraud and disability fraud while our national debt goes through the roof. The lack of investigation of this massive fraud is the biggest fraud of all. “Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; any departure from it, under any circumstance, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all”. Edmund Burke, English Orator and Statesman (1729-1797). Our ‘civil society’ is being rent asunder by political correctness, absurd directives, and a quest for a utopian dream that is unattainable. Justice and Liberty cannot exist one without the other, for either to be extinguished has been and is the bane of mankind.
That radical Islam wishes to return to the 7th century is a given. The rub comes when the rest of the world says NO! To this the radicals begin a reign of terror, committing atrocities that belie their claims that Islam is the religion of peace. How are we to respond to such barbarity? “We ought always to deal justly, not only with those who are just to us, but likewise to those who endeavor to injure us; and this, for fear lest by rendering them evil for evil, we should fall into the same vice”. Herodotus, Greek Historian (484-425BC) This is where Justice becomes visceral, where the struggle to survive calls the shots. When it’s either kill or be killed, maim or be maimed. Almost biblical in its simplicity, but Justice is not complicated, it only becomes so when it becomes the sole domain of courts, judges and lawyers.
Justice is the moral code, the essential fiber to a civilized society. As the mores of society change, so changes our perception of Justice. Our Lord left us a beacon, a path of Justice and Honor. It is to us, the task of maintaining that path that leads us to JUSTICE.
Walt Mow
Editors note: This article was originally published in July of 2020, and is being republished with a new forward from Walt. Enjoy.