Does justice work?

[Skyryder]

Justice is not something that works or not works it is done or not done whichever the case maybe.

Skyryder

[vifferman]

Law and justice are not always the same.

Although 'the system' is sometimes referred to as a "justice system", this is in fact incorrect. We have a legal system in NooZilund, and only occasionally does it result in justice being served. More often it's just the due process of the law being followed.
People who ask for justice are more often actually looking for revenge. Nothing can undo a crime (except perhaps sometimes a theft), so it is very unlikely to ever be a perfect or even satisfactory outcome to a trial.

It's hopeless. Locking up people to keep them from endangering other people works, but only as long as they remain locked up. The only people for whom punitive measures work are usually those who don't require them anyway: the people for who the offense was a first one, and usually a 'crime of passion', and who are so remorseful anyway that they're most unlikely to ever repeat the offense. For most of the others - those who are already or will be likely to be habitual offenders, the 'sensible' option of leniency on the first offense, followed by increasingly harsh penalties, inures and hardens them to the punishment so it actually works to turn them into hardened criminals. Plus you have the whole "university of crime" aspect of imprisonment, where they are in entirely the wrong environment to become rehabilitated anyway, instead being 'taught' or badly influenced by those around them.

The increasingly 'PC' aspect of our society has also resulted in a strange anomaly too, where in endeavouring to "do the right thing" as far as the wrongdoers are concerned, so that 'we' are not being as bad as them, we forget about the rights of the victims, who end up suffering even more than they should, especially when they're somehow led to believe they will get some kind of 'justice', when all they should expect really, is that the legal system doesn't fuck up and let the perpetrators get away unpunished.

But you knew all this.

[Genestho]

.
People who ask for justice are more often actually looking for revenge.

Im going to disagree with that statement, for quite a few reasons.
Because I know some of the hardships and fuckups faced at these trials, and I know of the outcomes which are not satisfactory in accordance to the crime, and that has nothing to do with revenge, although I do agree with most other parts of your post.

As an example I pass on an email, from a friend Ive shared my journey with, and have taken out names, ages and sex to protect this person, this was a high profile case.

"One small thing sums up how the legal systems see victims. The Judge and Jury got glass water jugs and glasses to drink from during the trial. The lawyers, defendent, court officials and journalists got plastic jugs and cups. The victims got nothing.

I had never been in a court until this case - bail hearings(bail!!!), depositions, trial. Like most people we trusted the system and indeed eventually got a guilty verdict, despite the barriers put up by the whole legal system, the blatant dishonesty of the defence and the complicity of the Judge.

To add insult to injury, the Judge gave ____ the minimum sentence he could, despite the numbers injured and traumatised as well as the loss of lives.
_____ has shown no remorse and has a previous record of serious violent assaults against both men and women. I have also heard that he has sexual assault and knifepoint robbery convictions. The Police have refused to give me his exact criminal record "to protect his human rights". He has since had a GBH conviction on a fellow prisoner following an unprovoked attack when he was awaiting his trial. If this scumbag had been in prison, my _____ would be age and continuing to love life. Similar stories are manifest amongst victims, often worse in the sense that criminals had killed or raped before."

There are stories of complete and utter screwups at all levels, its got nothing to do with revenge, its got to do with "Justice" in accordance to the crime and respect to the victims at all levels.

[pete376403]

Interesting article in the Dompost this morning about a Muslim woman blinded by a spurned suitor who threw acid into her eyes.
Court sentenced the man to 5 drops of sulphuric acid in each eye.

Iranian justice sometimes gets things right.