Wil's Rant

Have you ever considered a definition for the word justice? I have been thinking for awhile on it and I just can't come up with one. Perhaps one might look to the various legal systems in the world for guidance. Nope, not much there. Some might think that sentencing a murderer to death is justice. I think that for the innocent victim not to have died in the first place would be justice. I can't look to the Canadian system for justice, our system regularly lets violent criminals out on the street after a very light sentence. Often these same criminals go on to commit the same if not worse crimes upon release. Meanwhile in the U.S., one might serve a lengthy sentence simply for smoking pot, yet in Texas, the first murder is considered free. In other words, anyone could be driven to kill once, but should you make the mistake of doing it twice, then they'll kill you. Perhaps one might consider the old "an eye for an eye" thing as being just. Wrong again! That's revenge, not justice. In lesser crimes, the question becomes easier. Justice might be perceived as simply making right the crime one has committed against another, in other words, paying the debt. This can't be achieved in cases of violent crime, simply put, the damage done to another cannot be undone. So exactly what is justice and can there ever really be any? Perhaps we should just give up the concept as too abstract and not something that can ever be achieved. In which case our legal system might become more concerned with damage control. Once someone has proven that they have no problem performing violent acts on another, especially thrill or unprovoked acts, than we might consider them confirmed menaces to society and put them away for good. Of course the question comes up as to whether they can be reformed. I can't really see as how that matters at all. Just because a murderer can be reformed does not bring back the lost innocent life. I would think that the act of taking another's life would be enough to say that you had your chance, and we're not prepared to give you the chance to do it again, reformed or not. Then, forgiveness becomes a matter between the killer and their god. Perhaps the criminal authors great works of art, ethics, poetry, philosophy, etc. Again, that's wonderful for them, but it does not bring back the lost life. Certain crimes call for the loss of freedom, permanently. We owe it to the victims, we owe it to their families, we owe it to society, and no amount of post crime activities could ever make it right. Would that be justice, probably not, but it would be the next best thing.