1. I know it is again a Thursday and not my normal Wednesday post 2. I am busy sorry 3. It’s basically Wednesday 4. This is a heavy post 5. Trigger warning for death, sexual assault, rape, etc.
Observing the justice system nationally in the past few weeks has been brutal. First, Nolan Wells was declared “no foul play” and death via drowning, despite the fact that he had no water in his lungs, stomach, or throat. Yesterday there was a botched execution in Tennessee (if you are unaware of the brutality of the lethal injection drugs, I highly encourage this podcast episode. Eyeopening, truly). The Lindsay Clancy trial ended in a mistrial. And, of course, light has broken on a new lawsuit against Cornell and the 7 men who drugged and gang raped a young woman. The suit is a civil suit, as it came out that neither Cornell campus police nor the District Attorney originally did anything regarding the victim’s allegations. But now that it has so much public scrutiny, it the investigation is being reopened.
Things like this continue to show that as much as we want to have a perfect system, we don’t. The system is not perfect because the people running it are not perfect. People are deeply flawed. And some of those deeply flawed people have a lot of money, which in our world, means a lot of power. If money and power can corrupt systems meant to bring justice, does anything even matter?
And I don’t mean that in a depressing way. More like a “how can we continue to allow this and how can we as individuals come together as a community to stop it so that the system and the work of the people does matter” way. But unfortunately I am only one person expressing a sentiment I know many others feel, but no one knows what to do about it.
What do we do when justice fails?
How do we fix the system? How do we fix the people running it? Do we start it all over from scratch? How do we make sure only the right people will be put in those positions of power? Can we?
I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. I don’t know how to bounce back from all of these big cases that don’t seem to end fairly. And it isn’t a new thing. The justice system in the United States has been flawed from the time non-indiginous people stepped foot on the soil. Not to say that the systems in other places aren’t flawed – they certainly are (just last week three women in England were convicted of stealing for rescuing some abused lambs). Rape victims are constantly watching their assaulter get light sentences or slaps on the wrist (a good time to remind everyone of Brock Allen Turner, the convicted rapist who served 3 months in prison for raping a woman on the street and was caught in the act by bikers). The Black community is constantly seeing cases such as Nolan’s pop up, where a person is killed and police and investigators say “no foul play,” without a real investigation. The victims of Epstein’s island still fight every day for the files to be released and the abusers to be held accountable.
I could keep going on and on with times the justice system has failed the people. But each time, did the justice system fail, or did the people running it fail? Can we separate the two? Should we?
The law student in me, who still sees the system in the rose-tinted view of hoping to help the world, says we have to separate the two. The law student portion of my brain says we have to so we can hold those who failed accountable. So we can do better moving forward. So we can try and still achieve justice for those who have not received it. The law student in me sees the system as flawed, yes, but as an overall success. The law student in me wants to go “but what about all the times the system worked?”
And it does work in a majority of situations. When just people lead the system. When evil doesn’t corrupt. But that should not be an excuse for questioning the system when it does fail. For calling out the people who do make those choices that screw over everyone else. Because if we don’t call it out, if we don’t get angry, if we don’t let our voices be heard, nothing will ever change.
I don’t know how to answer any of the questions I posed here in this post. I don’t know what the right answer is in finding justice for the people who have been denied it. But I hope to always do my absolute best to ensure I do my part in operating a justice system. I recited the Pledge of Allegiance every single day from kindergarten through twelfth grade. And that pledge states “liberty and justice for all.” I believe in that “for all.”
Song of the day: Set Fire to the Rain – Adele
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