"Justice is a collective name which can be divided into two broad perspectives. Just behavior; a concern for genuine respect and treatment which is to be regarded as fair and equal. The Administration of Law; which ordains legislation composed by a judge or magistrate of a supreme court to a country or state, with objectives to protect the victims and pursue the perpetrators lawfully" - Wikipedia
Living in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world and having a legal background, my thoughts often go to what can be done to bring crime under control. The death penalty was declared unconstitutional and abolished in South Africa during 1995 (this was in the matter of the State v Makwanyane) and many argue that crime is out of control due to the abolishment. I am against the death penalty, partly because I know how flawed the legal process is in many respects, partly because I think locking someone up for the rest of their lives is more just than offing them. But in South Africa we are dealing with overcrowded jails, prosecutors with unmanageable workloads and policemen that are undertrained and underpaid.
I recently watched an episode entitled Justice (TNG, see http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Justice for the synopsis) which got me thinking about these matters again. In this episode the Edo have an interesting legal system where punishment zones are randomly selected on the planets surface. Mediators are sent to patrol the zones and any perpetrators that are caught are summarily executed. This is the case regardless of the severity of the crime. One's first reaction is to exclaim that this is an untenable situation, but on closer inspection there may be some justification.
The practice is an excellent deterrent as is evidenced by the extremely law-abiding nature of the Edo. Because the punishment zones are selected randomly, would be violators would find it difficult to identify a location to commit a crime. If implemented in our society it may deter petty thiefs as well as the more hardened criminals. The selection of particular punishment zones also makes it easier to enforce from a resource point of view as mediators will only patrol the particular zones for violations and not the whole of Rubicun III. This certainly would make life easier for our police force.
The fact remains though that the punishment is extremely severe. This rule can lead to very unjust situations as is aptly illustrated when Wesley is sentenced to death for breaking a plant box. Most legal systems today are designed around the idea that the punishment should fit the crime. One could argue though that the Edo would be less law-abiding if lesser punishments were employed for certain crimes as is evidenced by the level of crime in many countries in our world today. But I think that it is not the re-introduction of death penalty that is the answer, but rather solving all the underlying inefficiencies in the SA legal system. And to ensure that there is funding to make this possible, I would like to see prisoners earning their keep by paying for their food & lodging through selling products that they have made or rendering services whilst imprisoned. |
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Justiceposted Jun 10, 2008 2:53 AM by Heidi Hertz [ updated Jun 10, 2008 2:54 AM ] |
Indeed, an interesting dichotomy. The severity of the punishment is undesirable, but when taken into account with the enforceability of the model and the deterrence factor, it appears to be an effective combination.