By Coach Dave Daubenmire
March 17, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

Our criminal justice system is broken because it does not produce justice. In fact, that is not even its goal. The criminal non-justice system has become an industry designed to enrich those who benefit off of the “prosecution of crime.” Judges, lawyers, prisons, and those ancillary people who provide court services do not benefit when a justice system produces justice. They only benefit from creating crimes, and catching, prosecuting, fining, incarcerating, and “rehabilitating” those who commit them.

Even proving your innocence is expensive. Most times it is cheaper to “cop a plea” than to fight it. What good does it do you to be found innocent if you lost your house proving it? Shouldn’t the prosecutor have to re-pay the accused if guilt was not established?

In today’s America you are only one miss-step away from being classified as a “convicted felon.” Crime is big business, and although we are told that “crime does not pay”, the nation is full of those who make a living off of those who “violate the law.”

There are over 4,000 federal crimes, and many times that number of “regulations” that carry criminal penalties, let alone state and local statutes. God only came up with ten, and Jesus later whittled it down to two. I guess the Holy Trinity didn’t need the cash flow.

In the recent election one of the candidates for “prosecuting attorney” in our county ran radio ads stating that if he was elected he would make sure that “criminals went to jail.” It never entered his mind that that was not what his job was designed to do. The role of the prosecution is to make sure justice is served…not to make sure more Americans go to jail.

“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” -Isaiah 59

In its most basic form, justice is required when a crime has been committed. The purpose of justice is to make the injured party whole. A system of restitution is by its very nature punishment.
The most effective form of restitution is for the offender to repay (make whole) the one who has been offended. It makes the offender have a greater empathy for the one he offended when he is required to dig into his own pocket and pay for the consequences of his behavior.

Without restitution, justice cannot be served. In our criminal justice system restitution is paid to the government. A thousand dollar fine and six-months in jail does nothing to make the victim whole. It does, however, encourage the government to look for more criminals. The chance of justice winnows when the government has a financial interest in the outcome of the trial.

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