Justice? Mr. Justice, Are you
Here?
By The Caged Bear of Freedom
Justice. It’s a word that when you think of it, you
think of America, and everything we were founded on. It, indeed, was what we
were founded upon. The Boston Tea Party was about Justice for the people: No
Taxation without Representation. Then, The Boston Massacre, where 5 people were
murdered in cold blood. We demanded Justice there as well. Fast forward to
1865, and when John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln (among the
other screwed up attempts that occurred on that same day), manhunts were
organized, and the bodies of anyone associated with the act, swayed in the
breeze from the gallows. Justice. It’s what this damned country is supposed to
be about! Well, maybe it’s what it’s supposed
to be about, but not anymore. We now elect men, and women, to office that
have the most money, and the best cover story. Those same people honestly
believe that the Constitution, and Bill of Rights are dusty old pieces of
paper, that may have had relevance at one time, but not anymore. Unless you are
one of the 1% that line the pockets of these supposed “civil servants”, let me
fill you in on where you stand: You’re on your own bucko! Good luck with that!
This occurred to me, when a friend of mine, who was
in an abusive relationship, tells me today, that she finally got a restraining
order. Most people would be relieved at that, finally, help has arrived from
the Judicial System! First, let me qualify. I am an advocate of people who are
considered, “Pro Se”, or self-represented, in the Criminal Justice System.
Unprofessionally, these are people we would referred to as “screwed”, because
without any type of representation, you are chum in a tank of sharks. So, I do
what I can to guide these people to make the best decisions, and file the
proper forms and motions they can, and best prepare them for what is to come.
My friend had managed to obtain a restraining order on her own, and now we are
back to where we were prior to my brief interlude. Unfortunately, in both of
the cases I’ll describe, there are two reasons for Restraining Orders, or
Protective Orders; 1.) For someone who is a defined threat to that person, and
needs legal orders to further threaten harsher legal action if the person is to
make any sort of contact, let alone any sort of violent act towards the person.
And then there’s #2.) A person takes a protective order out because they can,
and there is no real threat. (This is a harder one to prove, but the effects
are the same). My friend we can safely file under #1, because this man can
clearly be a threat to the health and safety of her and her family. But my
response wasn’t one of jubilation that she had gotten this Restraining Order.
No, my mind went back to a young lady I never met, Tonya Notice.
Tonya was also in an abusive relationship, with a
man named James Carpenter. Tonya went and got a protective order against Mr.
Carpenter, though Mr. Carpenter continued to harass Tonya, Tonya even called
the police, many times in fact. One night, Mr. Carpenter walked right through
that Protective Order, and even though Tonya had called the Police, James
Carpenter killed Tonya Notice. So, when my friend told me she had gotten a
Restraining Order, forgive my lack of enthusiasm, when I said it’s only a piece
of paper. In 2012, someone attempted to murder me. It took 12 seconds, and left
me in a coma for a week. I don’t think you can dial 911, and have someone
answer the phone in 12 seconds, and this woman has now put her faith in a piece
of paper. Is this what justice has become? A Man, with documented anger issues,
who, with the proper set of circumstances, and mindset, could very well harm
this woman and her family, and he’s given a piece of paper that says not to do
it?
Prisons are terribly overcrowded, and we spend
ridiculous sums of money to warehouse people, instead of reforming them as is
our duty as a society. I won’t get in to my theories on how we can fix some of
these things, but you figure, if we’re going to overcrowd prisons anyway, why
are we not remanding people who are a defined threat in domestic violence situations?
It’s supposed to be that we are monitoring these people, the ones who threaten
violence, through GPS monitoring. It seems that is sporadic at best, and
really, at a certain point, how many people can you effectively monitor.
Everyone can agree that the Criminal Justice System
is fundamentally broken, and the only thing to fix it, would be a complete tear
down to the foundation, and rebuild. We know that is an implausible action, and
therefore, will never happen. But what is the alternative? Do we admit that
yes, the system is completely fucked, but shrug our shoulders? I won’t turn
this in to a political article, but similarly, this is where a Donald Trump as
a President makes complete sense to me. The Presidency, and Government hasn’t
always been a disaster, and the Criminal Justice system hasn’t either. But
we’ve reached a point where the status quo isn’t cutting the mustard anymore,
and bringing someone in that, granted, will make things really uncomfortable
for a little while, but shit, maybe it will change the way things are. What
have we got to lose? We’re headed in a disastrous direction, and maybe changing
things up will help bring Justice back to the people. Maybe it will save lives.
Just maybe, America will be the land of the free, and home of the brave, again.
Because, I don’t know what it is now, but this isn’t what the Founding Fathers
envisioned.
In a future story, I will cover the wasteful
spending by the State of Connecticut, so I can at least show you we’re
investing Millions of Dollars in Turtles, and Pheasants, while we have
Overcrowded Prisons, and people who are defined threats to others, and we can’t
afford to monitor them. But, damn it, we know where the turtles are!
