The other day I was pondering something about our society.
I was thinking about the smoke like concept called "Justice". I call it smoke like because it is my belief that it has no firm definition and cannot be described simply except in very few circumstances. Major crimes committed by major criminals with slam dunk evidence occasionally produces justice, years after the crime was first charged and at a great expense to all involved. Society believes we achieved "Justice" in the executions of Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacey. The truth is we achieved closure for the victims and their families. Their executions were long overdue and did very little to affect future criminals except to make them harder to catch. Did we get justice for "The Son of Sam" killer? How about Mark David Chapman? , or "John Hinckley? I suppose you could argue the circumstances in each case, and I think you could make that argument lively and emotional, yet it doesn't answer the question of how is Justice fair does it? In my view it is pretty pointless to base your belief one way or the other on these big cases with media notoriety and long story lines.
If Ann Rule wrote about it you probably have gone too far out in thinking about what it really means to some everyday Schmuck.
It turns out that for almost everybody I have talked to, the concept bears of Justice little resemblance to the reality of Justice.
Conceptually many people believe that , for example, If you get arrested for a minor criminal act like say, shoplifting and you are truly innocent (not by technicality or loophole) that the truth will come out at trial and you will be exonerated, found not guilty because the truth speaks for you. They think that justice follows a predictable pattern and the rules dictate fairness and a strong process. Other people believe that there is no way to win once you have been charged, and the only thing you can ever do is to mitigate the outcome. They believe the only thing you can hope to accomplish is to work a deal and get less time , or a smaller fine or a diversion program or something to that affect. It turns out that Justice is another one of those issues that is really and truthfully decided by money. Your money,. If you have some, you can get it, if you don't have any, you are screwed.
The typical attorney defending criminal cases make in the hundreds of dollars per hour range to defend your case.
If you are making minimum wage at Mickey-D's, you ain't gonna get justice. You are going to get a "public defender", whose job may be to defend you, technically, yet realistically, they are so overloaded and under paid that you may only meet them once before trial , if at all.
Here is how it really goes (and I'm not making this up), you can look it up it just by spending 15 minutes on a computer.
Your crime -
Here is what will happen (sort of):
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A police officer will arrest you, handcuff you and place you in a police car, if you act like a butthead, they will bodily throw you into the car, and maybe bang your face on the pavement a couple of times. You will go to jail.
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The whole way through this process , the arresting officer will badger and talk to you about your crime looking for information to use against you at trial.
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They probably will Miranda you (You know, the old "You have the right to remain silent stuff"), yet they will keep talking.
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If anyone was with you they will interrogate them too in the same way looking for differences in your stories.
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You will arrive at the jail, a most unpleasant place, be booked in ,fingerprinted, mug shotted, talked to some more and mildly threatened to cooperate if you want this to go easy on you.
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This can take a long time and multiple hours will have passed. Say 3-6 hours.
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You can tell everyone you talk to that you want a lawyer, yet they will keep talking, hoping you will answer and make their case for them.
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You will be put into whatever kind of Jail your area has.
- Large cells, small cells, the desert in Arizona, dorms, big rooms, little rooms. All the same.
- There will be a lot of people in the same mess as you in this jail. Most of them are idiots.
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All of them will tell you they are innocent, they will all want your possessions and your food.
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If you are small, the wrong race or weak or sick you will probably be beaten by other inmates at least one time.
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If you are lucky you will survive.
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Sometimes the next 3 days a detective will come in a talk with you.
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Depending upon your "crime", they will be in partners or single and they will be indifferent, friendly or hostile.
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This just happens as a matter of routine. tell them you want a lawyer and they will pretty much repeat the "What do you have to hide line?", and will keep talking.
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At this point you may get taken back to jail or you may get a public defender.
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You may see a lawyer at this point, but do not count on it.
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This depends on how big your city is and how much money the public defenders office has to pay lawyers to assist you.
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This is nothing like TV.
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At some point in the first 2-4 weeks you are there, you may get to stand before a judge and plead for bail.
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This may happen the next morning, but do not count on that either.
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Some places in the rural South, only have bail court a couple of times a week , and your charge may have standing bail orders as well.
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You, at this point are screwed if you do not have 2 or 3 thousand dollars to post bail with.
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If you are the unlucky one in the unlucky area and do not have any money, getting to this point may mean you have been locked up for 2-4 weeks.
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This is nothing like TV either.
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If you are lucky enough to post bail, you will get out. If you are not lucky enough to have the access to money, see # 6 point 3.
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As much as 1 to 3 years may pass before your case is called to be heard. You may still be in jail.
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You may or may not have been able to talk to your lawyer.
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If you had a public defender, it probably will not be the same one you originally saw.
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They will not have the time, money, evidence, or initiative to really defend you. The prosecutor holds every card.
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They will advise you to plea bargain , to close the case.
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Unless you provide solid evidence, a bunch of money, and do all the leg work, they have no way to help you really.
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You will go to court, be given a 15 minute trial, be found guilty and the judge will pass sentence.
This is what passes for Justice.
I know I sound jaded, but I am not, this is the reality.
I understand this is a gross over simplification of the process.
The point is , Is this what you had in mind when you started this article?
Is this really Justice?
Thankx- bigmike
posted from "The Rant from bigmike" at
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