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Why do dangerous criminals often go
free? Why are the innocent
\
sometimes imprisoned? How do we help
the victims of crime?
by
Donald D. Schroeder
EIGHTENINGLY,
it happens again
and again in the United States!
Killers, muggers, rapists, sex
molesters-many who even have confessed to
their grisly crimes- are released from police
custody or prisons to freely walk the streets.
They're set free because of sorne loophole in the
law or failure to perfectly fulfill sorne technicality in
the prosecution. Within weeks of their release, many
of these same criminals commit new serious crimes.
On occasion, we are startled to hear of persons
sometimes erroneously sentenced to long prison
terms. Sorne have been convicted because of
mistaken identity by witnesses, or by testimony of
lying witnesses. Perhaps there was community
prejudice against the person, or a frame-up.
Perhaps overzealousness by police to find a
suspect and salve a case. Or a pr.ejudicial newspaper
or judge swayed a jury. No one knows how often
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innocent persons are convicted of crimes. But it
happens. Only slowly and agonizingly do the wheels
of justice sometimes turn and such evils are
corrected.
World of
lnjustice
The English-speaking world, at times, decries the
methods of justice used in certain areas of the world.
In sorne nations, citizens can be picked up by police
or authorities upon the flimsiest of pretexts and held
in prison without tria!.
Under sorne governments, persons afoul of the law
or in disfavor with those in power are executed
without trials. Kangaroo courts, or mock trials, may
mete out cruel justice on the whims of the presiding
official. Confessions-true or false-may be beaten
out of suspects.
Though there is much injustice in the world, we
need to keep the issue of justice in proper focus.
Sorne nations handle crime and justice problems
more effectively than others. There are still
conscientious judges and qualified lawyers. There are
fair decisions rendered in many court cases. And
there are honest law enforcement officials and honest
officials of government. Much depends upon
individual character and training.
God commands humans to maintain respect at all
times for officers of justice and government, even if
one doesn't agree with everything they do (Romans,
chapter 13).
But along with this fact, the truth is most
societies also have experiences with crooked judges
and greedy, unethical lawyers. There are corrupt
policemen, and prosecutors who will drop
cr~minal
charges if paid a sufficient sum.
In the United States, many citizens have become
upset over the widespread practice of plea bargaining
because it so often seems to make a mockery of
justice. Under this procedure, thousands of criminals
are given reduced sentences or probation by pleading
guilty to a lesser crime than for the one for which
they were originally indicted.
Ninety percent
of all
convictions in the United States are obtained
through plea bargains.
The plea-bargaining procedure, hammered out by
judges, prosecutors and defendants' lawyers, often
behind closed doors, is justified to speed cases
through courts clogged with heavy backlogs of cases,
or to avoid a costly jury tria!, or when it is difficult
to get evidence for a conviction. Tbe consequence of
this practice is many criminals repeatedly get off
The PLAIN TRUTH