In the wake of school shootings, racial discrimination in justice, police stray bullets & shoot outs, individual possession of weapons, unjustified arrests, am sure we have all been analysing the validity of our law & it's justice in relation to crimes committed.
The laws we made has exposed us to danger, violence and discrimination. Law enforcement agencies are permitted under the law to whatever methods possible to bring people to justice which includes violence and shootings which are done erroneously to innocent people. This same legal system has helped us bring criminals as convicted by the law to justice with the strategy of disarming , car chase which has been a good thing. This brings us to the question that are our laws just or criminal & unjust?
The era we find ourselves determines the law. Slavery was a trade that was once permissible with no laws to punish those involved in it and we could say the law then was unjust. The news and media has brought us reports of mass shootings, rape, drug involvement yet rather than getting a follow-up story of law violators being punished as accorded by the law, we witness preferential treatment to some race, nationality and gender with no form of review of penalty in relation to crime.
The law has been good to us too. We have had incidence when money launderers, fraudsters have been brought to law and funds stolen returned to government and compensations given to those defrauded.
The law has become a power with double standard. The police are authorised to shoot a "criminal" who attempts violence or threat to life, yet when an ordinary citizen attempts to shoot a "criminal" to bring him to justice, he is labeled a terrorist & criminal. We begin to wonder why one should be authorised to use violence while the other should be punished when he attempts it.
Our laws have become an issue of debate. Resolutions have occurred, protests have been supported to get us this far but we would still need to pursue justice with unbiased resilience.
Everyone has a right to be listened to whether law abiding or convicted by the law. Till we address the issue of racial and gender favorism, we would continue to mistrust our legal system.
Our judiciary & legislative system must be periodically reviewed to abolish laws that pose threat to the development and peace of the human race. We must endeavour to respect laws and fufill our legal duties.
We still need to realise that laws are made after outweighing it's potential threat to life and property rather than random wishes. This should explain why only a qualified surgeon is authorised to perform surgeries not accountant. All these points brings us to a balance that everyone has his duties and obligations under the law according to their profession and the same goes for the police & their duties.
Maybe when we all treat people the way we want to be treated, maybe when we take responsibility for our action, maybe when we look out for each other's wellness and discourage unlawful acts, then we would have reduced crime rates and incidence that will lead to violation of our rights
A good read, I'd like to add by saying the flaws in our judicial system are big ones, not only the Authority (law enforces) who constantly abuse their power in various forms but in particular the use of violence when need may not be, I'd still put most of the blame on the their governing bodies who take active part in matters of government and still find it difficult to proper control and oversee simple yet vital matters concerning their own internal affairs.
ReplyDeleteThe Law needs to be revised by the Legislature and administer external parties with the jurisdiction to detain accused individuals within the current authority and try them without interference of the said party, something like an "Authority for the Authority"
The process of fixing this issue might not be swift and easy but every little step gets one further to his/her goal
This is true but not everyone knows about the law and injustice they might have faced will leave a scar of disappointments and mistrust of the legal system in their minds.
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