On Justice in America
I felt compelled to link this video (unfortunately, embedding is disabled by YouTube for this particular clip) showing the deadly result of "To Catch A Predator," which I criticized a few posts back.
What happens when we tread down the dark and dangerous path of forgoing the Constitution in favor of this disgusting form of justice, wherein a man gives up his life because a television network parades embarrassed, scared and often mentally sick people in front of millions of viewers, all for the sake of ratings and profit?
We lose ourselves.
We stray from our values.
We have a long-held belief in this country - not to mention a Constitutionally embedded standard of due process - that all men are created equal, and everyone is entitled to fair and true justice. You are innocent until proven guilty.
Unfortunately for this country, media has so seamlessly merged entertainment and news that no longer is there a distinction. Bias, so frequently called on the side of liberalism, exists in every news outlet. Information doesn't exist in pure form; constantly, facts and data are misinterpreted to give strength to one side's argument, irrelevant to the nature of what's actually happening.
What is happening? We're allowing ourselves to be TOLD what is happening by people who have NO IDEA what is happening. Chris Hansen calls that man a sexual predator (explicitly or implied by the fact that said person is the subject of a show entitled "To Catch A Predator"), and so we super glue that label to his forehead. "This man is a deviant," we proclaim. Where is his justice? Where is his due process?
I would not diminish the noble nature of those who genuinely want to make the world a safer place, but a reality we have to live with is that this country (and the rest of the world) is a dangerous place. What makes this country great, however, is that, despite all of the danger around us, we have a system of justice that is MEANT to be impartial. Ignoring the push in several states to have the Ten Commandments plastered all over the courthouses, we look inward at our own morality - our belief that certain things ought not be denied any human being: among them their lives, their safety and well-being, or their liberty.
A sexual deviant should be caught, tried and punished according to our code of justice. They should not be paraded about as a prize fish, caught after being lured in front of a camera for entertainment. If you ask me, if these people are convicted, while they spend their time in rehabilitation or correctional facilities, they should look into bring a lawsuit against MSNBC for profiteering from the crimes.
As I see it, MSNBC sets up a scenario within which a criminal act may occur with the express intent to lure in an unwitting "predator," which will bring them money. MSNBC's behavior here is criminal. Not to mention that it's starting to sound like Minority Report when you consider that no one has actually been harmed, and there was no eligible victim present at the scene of the "crime." It's was an intended criminal act.
My God, what has become of justice in America?
What happens when we tread down the dark and dangerous path of forgoing the Constitution in favor of this disgusting form of justice, wherein a man gives up his life because a television network parades embarrassed, scared and often mentally sick people in front of millions of viewers, all for the sake of ratings and profit?
We lose ourselves.
We stray from our values.
We have a long-held belief in this country - not to mention a Constitutionally embedded standard of due process - that all men are created equal, and everyone is entitled to fair and true justice. You are innocent until proven guilty.
Unfortunately for this country, media has so seamlessly merged entertainment and news that no longer is there a distinction. Bias, so frequently called on the side of liberalism, exists in every news outlet. Information doesn't exist in pure form; constantly, facts and data are misinterpreted to give strength to one side's argument, irrelevant to the nature of what's actually happening.
What is happening? We're allowing ourselves to be TOLD what is happening by people who have NO IDEA what is happening. Chris Hansen calls that man a sexual predator (explicitly or implied by the fact that said person is the subject of a show entitled "To Catch A Predator"), and so we super glue that label to his forehead. "This man is a deviant," we proclaim. Where is his justice? Where is his due process?
I would not diminish the noble nature of those who genuinely want to make the world a safer place, but a reality we have to live with is that this country (and the rest of the world) is a dangerous place. What makes this country great, however, is that, despite all of the danger around us, we have a system of justice that is MEANT to be impartial. Ignoring the push in several states to have the Ten Commandments plastered all over the courthouses, we look inward at our own morality - our belief that certain things ought not be denied any human being: among them their lives, their safety and well-being, or their liberty.
A sexual deviant should be caught, tried and punished according to our code of justice. They should not be paraded about as a prize fish, caught after being lured in front of a camera for entertainment. If you ask me, if these people are convicted, while they spend their time in rehabilitation or correctional facilities, they should look into bring a lawsuit against MSNBC for profiteering from the crimes.
As I see it, MSNBC sets up a scenario within which a criminal act may occur with the express intent to lure in an unwitting "predator," which will bring them money. MSNBC's behavior here is criminal. Not to mention that it's starting to sound like Minority Report when you consider that no one has actually been harmed, and there was no eligible victim present at the scene of the "crime." It's was an intended criminal act.
My God, what has become of justice in America?
posted by Dave at 1:05:00 AM
1 Comments:
I have to agree. The sensationalizing of our justice system is almost as bad as our politicization of it...
"We worry that explaining evil condones it. We have to maintain our outrage at Hitler. But wouldn't it be nice to have a theory of evil in advance that could keep him from coming to power?
A system a bit more focused on helping people change rather than paying them back for what they've done might be a good thing."
-Dr. Daniel Wegner
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