Due Process and the Juice
Yes, I realize the following post is dredging up old news. I'm thinking about it because I just read this news story, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070509/people-simpson, and it brings up something I never got around to saying while it was still fresh. So here's some social commentary left-overs for you. If you don't like it, we can go out to Sizzler tomorrow night.
Everyone in the US should be happy that O.J. got off. Whether he killed his ex-wife or not is irrelevant. You didn't know her. You don't know him. You weren't there when it all went down and you don't know the facts. What you should be thinking about is how it affects you, and how it affects you is one of the last things that makes me feel any pride about this country: Due Process. After the last two presidential elections, the unwarranted invasion of Iraq, the re-rape of the environment after the great strides made in the 90's I don't have much faith left in the law, the government, or sadly the people of the United States, but due process still works for me. The mechanism by which O. J. was exonerated, whether he did it or not, is the same mechanism by which you or I could potentially be exonerated of a crime that you or I did not commit. Even if O.J. not only did it, but was laughing maniacally the whole time about how he was planning to abuse the legal system and get off scott free, even if he's still laughing, even if every time he swings a golf club he remembers fondly the sound of his knife piercing Nicole's flesh, we should be glad the mechanism exists. If 10 vicious criminals skirt justice by abusing a system designed so that one innocent person does not lose his or her liberty or life that is a price that we should pay happily. It is a flawed system, with loopholes that can be exploited by the rich, and potholes that the poor can fall into, but I'm glad the system is there. Just imagine the alternative.
Everyone in the US should be happy that O.J. got off. Whether he killed his ex-wife or not is irrelevant. You didn't know her. You don't know him. You weren't there when it all went down and you don't know the facts. What you should be thinking about is how it affects you, and how it affects you is one of the last things that makes me feel any pride about this country: Due Process. After the last two presidential elections, the unwarranted invasion of Iraq, the re-rape of the environment after the great strides made in the 90's I don't have much faith left in the law, the government, or sadly the people of the United States, but due process still works for me. The mechanism by which O. J. was exonerated, whether he did it or not, is the same mechanism by which you or I could potentially be exonerated of a crime that you or I did not commit. Even if O.J. not only did it, but was laughing maniacally the whole time about how he was planning to abuse the legal system and get off scott free, even if he's still laughing, even if every time he swings a golf club he remembers fondly the sound of his knife piercing Nicole's flesh, we should be glad the mechanism exists. If 10 vicious criminals skirt justice by abusing a system designed so that one innocent person does not lose his or her liberty or life that is a price that we should pay happily. It is a flawed system, with loopholes that can be exploited by the rich, and potholes that the poor can fall into, but I'm glad the system is there. Just imagine the alternative.
posted by John McKenna at 9:53 AM
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