"the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals"
"the maintenance or administration of what is just
especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the
assignment of merited rewards or punishments"
"the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action"
Up here in the peoples republic we've been hearing a lot about "justice" recently.
A couple of weeks ago a black man was shot by police under somewhat murky circumstances. It appears that this guy was interfering with paramedics who were trying to treat his girlfriend. It is unknown at this point of he inflicted the injuries which necessitated calling to paramedics in the first place. It is rumored that he was handcuffed when he was shot.
In my opinion, the most important factor at this point, is that no one really knows exactly what happened.
Given that, the local BLM folks were out immediately making some demands.
1. ID the officers.
2. Make the video public.
3. Bring in the U.S. DOJ to investigate.
The powers that be quickly caved in to #3, and after getting permission #1. The problem with #2 is twofold a) at this point it is against the law to release the video, b) the DOJ investigators have stated that it would hamper their investigation to do so.
Given that, the BLM folks decided to block an interstate for a period of several hours, and to protest outside the precinct station where the police were stationed. I question the wisdom of the freeway blockage for several reasons, 1. It is clearly illegal, 2. It is provocative and inconveniences people who might otherwise support the cause, 3. It denies innocent people emergency (fire, medical, police) services or makes them less timely.
The blockade of the precinct is a whole other matter. While I support the right of these folks to peacefully and lawfully protest outside the station, and while that's how it started it certainly didn't take long for that to change. Amid multiple claims of the group to only engage in nonviolent protest, it wasn't long before we saw damage to police cars and property as well as Molotov cocktails being thrown.
The last big news was that some folks decided to take some pot shots at the protesters and injured 5 of them. There was a rush to identify the perps as "white supremacists" and "terrorists", even before anyone knew any facts about the shooters. Surprising no one but those who want to portray the police as racist thugs, the shooters were quickly apprehended and are being charged. This ignores that at least one of these suspects was a Hispanic "white supremacist". Nonetheless, it's safe to say that the police did their job, quickly and efficiently.
Why justice?
One of the chants heard frequently at these protests is "No justice, no peace.".
Essentially demanding a predetermined outcome or else there will be violent protests.
What about that is Justice?
Why not actually be patient and wait for the facts of the case before threatening violence?
Do they really want to perpetuate what amounts to vigilante vengance?
This also applies to the situation in Chicago where a police officer was recently charged with Murder for his shooting of a black man.
It seems to me that in Chicago we actually see justice (as defined) playing out, yet the protesters aren't satisfied with actual justice before they protest.
So, do these folks really want justice? Or revenge?
In the MN case, justice could mean that the DOJ investigation exonerates the officer(s) and determines that the black guy was a legitimate threat. Seems to me that if you want justice, then you have to be satisfied with the just outcome no matter what. Yet, how many of us think that the officers being exonerated will not result in (violent?) protest.
One other aside, in both the MPLS as well as Chicago situations the dominant political party in charge of these cities is the Democratic party. The protesters voted these folks into office, they support them, they buy into the Democrats message. Maybe part of the solution is political. Maybe part of the solution is not to simply continue to support the same old same old politics as usual. Maybe part of the solution is not to vote a certain way because everyone else of your race does.
Maybe, part of the solution is to let justice happen whether you like the results or not.
2 comments:
I think what is most obviously necessary is to have people elected to serve the people who elected them. Sounds simplistic, but apparently, at least in Chicago, there isn't much "serving the people" happening. The story here is that Rahm Emmanuel, or members of his supporters, paid the family of the victim $5 million to keep quite until after the election. Now, with demands to have the dash-cam video released to the public, a video with no sound, we see the kid getting shot. We don't see him ingesting PCP, which they say was in his system, and it's hard to see the knife in his hand. The cop started firing pretty quickly after he arrived on the scene and exited his squad car, there were other cops and squad cars about, and the kid didn't look as if he intended to stop for them, as I am sure they were ordering him to at least freeze. In short, it looks like they finally have a clear cut case of a bad cop shooting when he really didn't have to shoot. Why it took them a year to release the vid and then charge him (he was behind a desk since the incident) is in question. We won't hear testimonies from the other officers on the scene until the trial, or sometime later. In the meantime, the cop is toast as far as the general public is concerned.
A protester interviewed for Sean Hannity's show stated that the kid could have been him. What the protester is saying, without realizing it, is that he could have been that kid on PCP holding a knife not responding properly to the cops' orders. If so, then yes, he too would have been shot dead. Not hard to imagine.
But if the protester is speaking as if the kid was just some law-abiding black kid minding his own business when he was shot for no reason...I don't think so. Even this cop, who allegedly has a history of abusing his authority, wouldn't go so far as to ride up on such a person and just start shooting.
The cop looks guilty as hell. Prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law if he is indeed judged to be guilty. But if there is more to the story, we need to know first...or at least the court does. I'm sure there is more to the story, though not more in the manner that seemed to be trending in events of the recent past (Zimmerman, "Hands up, don't shoot", "I can't breathe", etc) that turned out to be justified use of force situations.
In any case, I doubt you will see crowds of white people rioting if the cop is found guilty of murder.
One final thought on the notion of "justice". What justice has been bestowed upon those business owners in Furgeson and Baltimore that suffered property damage and theft at the hands of rioting a-holes? Haven't heard anything on that score.
Exactly, "justice" to these folks means "The outcome that I want, no matter what that actual facts of the situation are". It's like our kids complaining that it's not "fair" that they don't get ice cream at midnight, or whatever their current demand is.
I'm all for justice in our legal system, I expect it, I would even demand it, but to demand a predetermined outcome and to pretend that it is justice is simply childish.
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