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Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009

Community Conversation: All should have the opportunity to change their lives for the better

By Michael Simmons, Richland

We avoid our responsiblities in society if we don't seek justice

We tend to think of justice as a form of civilized revenge, a distasteful process of hurting someone in retribution for the hurt they caused to others.

It's more than that.

One dictionary defines justice as, "The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards or law."

Our laws concerning capital crimes were not drawn up in the heat of a tragedy. They were based on centuries of precedent and the premise that the punishment should fit the crime, a concept derived from the laws inherent in human nature.

Think of the last action film you saw, the one that ends with the certain, brutal, humiliating death of the "Bad Guy." Dirty Harry drops the madman holding the damsel in distress with a single shot to the head.

How many in the theater booed that act? On the contrary, it brought a sense of satisfaction and relief. It was universal; it was natural. There was no need for a trial, no need for due process; you saw the pain inflicted on the victims, you knew he was guilty and you recognized justice.

You also knew it was just a movie. No one suffered, no one died, it was artificial stimulation.

Murders rarely are filmed with such clarity. Real-life trials are filled with contradiction, doubts, bias and procedural strategy. It's natural to recognize the potential for error and fear justice gone wrong.

We fear the image of our hand delivering the fatal vote, the fatal dose. Reasonable doubt becomes any doubt. The victim becomes less innocent, the murderer more so. The act is in the distant past and can't be reversed. Maybe it's better if we just move on.

The prosecution of wars tend to follow the same pattern. On Sept. 12, 2001, we all stood together prepared to deliver the "Dirty Harry" shot to the head of any involved in the previous day's despicable act. Yet as time passed, our unity faded, our zeal cooled; our sense of justice blurred by doubt.

As the war progressed, the tragedy faded further into the past. Images of men and women jumping to their deaths were forgotten. Moral clarity was refracted by moral relevance. Maybe it was our policies that drove these misguided conspirators to an act of desperation.

The more we see of these events, the less appealing. We begin to resent those who stand in our defense; the cop, the prosecutor, the soldier. Soon the murderer becomes the victim, the victim becomes part of the problem and the principle of justice itself becomes cruel and unusual.

We lose our will and accept that justice no longer is "the upholding of what is just."

Justice is uncomfortable, unpleasant, uncertain, and, therefore, seems unattainable.

We conclude that society cannot afford the imperfection of justice and that the brutal death of tens of thousands each year is tolerable and preferable.

We shirk our social responsibilities and hope it all just goes away, or at least, only happens to others.

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