No time for justice! Some people do not believe that there is any justice in the world. Others believe that justice will always occur but it just takes time. Martin Luther King said that “The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.” I remember part of another quote that mentions justice grinding like a mill wheel, slowly but inevitably.
Many believe that justice will not be found in this world but only in some after life when all accounts are called to order. There they will find St. Peter at the gates to Heaven deciding who gets in and who goes to hell. The Old Testament notes that “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.” Perhaps, we will not find justice on earth but somewhere between heaven and hell, we will all be judged and sentenced. I have always wondered where Hitler and other mass murderers would end up and what criteria St. Peter could use to judge them.
In the USA, the Bill of Rights (Amendment VI) calls for a speedy and impartial public trial for all convicted of a crime. Justice is rendered quickly and you do not have to wait to have justice meted out. Justice is fair and impartial. It does not depend on how much money you have or who you know. Or at least, it is supposed to be fair and impartial.
Today the wheels of justice seem to grind far more slowly than envisioned by our American forefathers. Few of us would say that most trials are speedy, never mind impartial. Witness a former President who has had ten warnings for Contempt of Court and at best has received some minor fines. How many warnings would you or I have been given before we would have been locked behind bars. Perhaps if the definition of a “speedy” trial had been defined we might be better able to judge the efficacy of the present US court system. What is speedy to some of us might be slow to others. Perhaps ironically, Trump’s lawyers are not looking for a speedy trial but just the reverse. They feel that time is on their side and the longer that they can avoid a trial the better things will be for them.
No doubt we all want justice today for ourselves. Why then does it appear that few citizens are clamoring for trials to be made speedier? Is the right to a speedy trial no longer important? Are we more willing to tolerate delays in all aspects of our lives? Have we extended this to the court system so that we no longer feel that a speedy trial is important? Are the lawyers dragging the system out to benefit their pocketbooks?
Maybe we should just rewrite the Bill of Rights to make the amendment more accurate. Perhaps it should read:
“You are entitled to a trial, which with lawyers and court delays might take several years before it comes to court. If you can afford a better lawyer, you will have a better chance of winning your case. If you are rich and privileged or have power and influence, we will make sure that your trial is fairer than others. Money and influence will also guarantee that you will be able to afford bail so that you will not have to sit in a damp grungy ugly jail cell for several years before your trial begins.”
What would you think of this change? Do you think trials should be speedy? Do you think it is important to have a fair and impartial justice system? Would you agree that rich influential people should be entitled to more privileges than poor nobodies? How would you feel if you were in the court system today? Would you be a satisfied customer?
Aging Capriciously 