The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
Until you realize the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way.
If you are looking for justice from the courts, you are playing a fool’s game. Courts are not interested in justice, they are interested in resolution. While judges are honorable, hardworking individuals, the courts are jam- packed with cases, notoriously understaffed, and in some cases, truly overwhelmed. Your case is a minor blip to the average judge. You may think that your case is different, special, or unique, but it is not. Your case means nothing; these judges have seen thousands of people just like you. They don’t have the emotional investment in your case that you do. They are not bad people by any means, yet like police officers, they simply cannot get that emotionally involved with every person they come across while performing their official duties. Frankly, the three cases that came on the docket before yours are probably the same. It all becomes a blur after enough time.
Look at the lists of people with rap sheets five feet long who are still out on the streets—these guys became professional criminals a long time ago. If there were justice, they wouldn’t be out preying on the weak, vulnerable, aged, and defenseless of our society. Jail to these professional criminals means three free meals a day, long showers, plenty of sleep, and a great opportunity to study up on what they did wrong and refine their technique. It is a nice respite to help them get ready for their next go in the world of violence and crime.
Facing a shortage of bed space, severe overcrowding, and a lack of taxpayer willingness or political wherewithal to build additional facilities, prisons throughout the country are forced to make tough decisions. They use a variety of processes to identify low-risk offenders, such as prison matrixing, to routinely releasing prisoners early. Unfortunately, there is rarely such a thing as “low risk” when it comes to criminal offenders.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, recidivism rates are very high. About three percent of the adult population has spent time in prison. That’s not jail, mind you, but prison, the place where you are sent for serious crimes with convictions that result in long-term sentences. Jail, on the other hand, is where inmates are locked up for a relatively short time, such as awaiting trial or serving a short-term sentence. Almost three quarters of parolees are re-arrested for felonies or serious misdemeanor crimes within three years of release. About half of those are re-convicted for a new crime.
You, most likely, are not a professional criminal. That means that you are just the kind of person that the justice system likes. You are inclined to make bail (that costs you money). You are likely to show up in court with an attorney (that costs too). You are looking to earn some sort of parole (that takes time, and time equals money). Depending on what you have been accused of, you might well be assigned a psychiatric examination (that costs money) and a violence education program (that takes a lot time, the cost for which you have the privilege of paying too).
In short, as a regular, generally law-abiding citizen, you are also an easy mark for the courts. You will bear the full brunt of the legal system. You can pad their conviction statistics by pleading guilty to a lesser crime in order to avoid the risk of an extended prison stay. In most cases, you probably shouldn’t cop a plea, but you certainly may be tempted to. After all, you value your life and your lifestyle. The professional criminal, on the other hand, couldn’t care less what the judge says. All he hears is, “Quack, quack, woof, woof, ninety days, yadda yadda…” The threat of a jail stay or prison term is not an earth-shattering, life-changing event as it would be to the rest of us. It is, rather, a minor inconvenience.
Courts are designed to process people and come to resolution. Justice is an expensive commodity. The police do their job and the courts do theirs. Unfortunately, if you engage in violence you will get pinched in the middle.
For the professional criminal, a jail stay or prison term is a minor inconvenience. Recidivism rates are high; roughly 75 percent of felons are re-arrested within three years of release and about half of those re-arrested are re-convicted of a new crime.
If you still think that courts are about justice, go ask Nicole Simpson or Ronald Goldman what justice is all about. Oops, you can’t… because they are dead. Their murderer, O.J. Simpson, has been living in Florida, playing golf as a free man. Well, legally he wasn’t the murderer now was he? He was acquitted in criminal court. Even though Simpson lost the subsequent civil trial, the victims’ families have not been compensated for their losses. A Florida bankruptcy court awarded the rights to Simpson’s book
To further illustrate the point that the courts are about resolution rather than justice, here are a few more examples. These situations involved law enforcement professionals, the very people who go out there and protect the rest of us every day. The system failed them too. All three of these events took place in Seattle, Washington, over a four-month period in 2006.
• On August 13th, Seattle Officer Joselito Barber, 26, was killed when her car was hit by the vehicle that Mary Jane Rivas was driving. Rivas, who had just been released from prison, was accused of being high on cocaine at the time of the incident and was subsequently charged with vehicular homicide. She pled guilty in King County Superior Court on September 21, 2007.
• On November 13th, Seattle Police Officer Beth Nowak was killed on her way to work when a convicted felon, Neal Kelley, with an outstanding warrant for his arrest, crashed a stolen Honda into Nowak’s vehicle. Kelley died at the scene as well.
• On December 2nd, Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Cox responded to reports of shots being fired in the White Center neighborhood and was interviewing several people at a house party when one of them ambushed and killed him. Deputy Cox was shot in the head twice by one of the witnesses, Raymond Porter, a convicted felon who was on active supervision by the state Department of Corrections. After fatally wounding Cox, Porter shot and killed himself as well.
It works the same way in civil court too. For example, administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson, Jr. filed a 54 million dollar lawsuit against a drycleaners that lost his pants. While Pearson ultimately lost his infamous case, the defendant, Soo Chung, was run through the emotional wringer and had to pay out thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend himself. The case was filed in June of 2005, cycled through two judges, three settlement offers, dozens of exhibits, and hundreds of pages of court filings before culminating in an emotional two-day trial. During the proceedings, both the plaintiff and the defendant burst into tears. The case was finally wrapped up in June of 2007. Tired of the whole ordeal, the Chungs sold their business and closed up shop three months later. According to news reports, Pearson is expected to appeal so it may not be over yet. If a mundane matter like a lost pair of pants can bring about this much heartache, imagine what a wrongful death lawsuit might be like.
Courts are not interested in justice, they are interested in resolution. For the professional criminal, a jail stay or prison term is a minor inconvenience. Recidivism rates are high; roughly 75 percent of felons are re-arrested within three years of release and about half of those re-arrested are re-convicted of a new crime. Justice is an expensive commodity. The police do their job and the courts do theirs. Unfortunately, if you engage in violence you will get pinched in the middle.
We’ve all seen examples in the news where celebrities who can afford handlers, fixers, and small armies of attorneys can get away with things that the average citizen cannot. Despite the tabloids and the headlines, however, the justice system really does work pretty well much of the time. Even the rich and famous can wind up doing hard time when they get caught. Imagine how much worse it might be for you, the not so rich, and mostly anonymous. Your best bet is keeping your nose clean, of course, but if you ever do find yourself caught up in the legal system, it is paramount that you find yourself an excellent attorney to help you navigate the process.
