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It is well known to all who have followed the Oscar Pistorius trial the incredibly lenient sentence handed down to him by Judge Masipa. Six years for murder is an outrage, however in our passionate debates both for and against the sentence, I believe that we have all lost sight of what the actual problem really is here – the justice system itself.
Let’s put aside, for the moment, who the perpetrator is, his social standing, his money, and the allegations of political interference. Let us for one moment put aside the haters, and let us put aside the glorified fan club/s out there. Let’s ignore all those who speak with declarations of what really allegedly happened that night when they could not possible have a clue (on both sides of the fence).
When we do this, we are left with just the accused, and of course, the victim. A sentence of six years handed down for what our courts have determined was murder. Regardless of anybody’s opinion on the issue, the fact remains that anybody sentenced for murder should not receive leniency in any degree – a human life was taken by another, and the perpetrator must pay for that offence.
We hear stories in the media (social and otherwise) that our jails are overcrowded, hence the reason that such lenient sentences are handed down, and hence the reason that sentenced criminals are released early. Bearing this in mind, I ask you, people of this nation, is this really what we want in our society? A Justice system that does not properly penalise perpetrators? That people who steal money receive greater sentences than a convicted murderer?
So we have an overcrowding problem in our prisons. Why are we not building more? Should we as a society not be re-looking at the death penalty for capital crimes?. After all, why should the law-abiding people of this nation be paying for the upkeep of those that chose to commit murder, and other capital crimes? Building more jails in itself would bring at least some job creation for warders, and provide more facilities to keep the criminal element off of our streets!.
We need a justice system (and the infrastructure to support it) that;
Hands down proper sentences for capital crimes. Murder should be no less than 25 to Life.
Re-institutes the Death penalty for heinous capital offences – The definition of which to be defined. I would certainly count pre-meditated murder amongst these.
Stronger sentences to be imposed for lesser offences. The uncompromising message must be sent, you do the crime, you WILL do the time.
What the victim went through, and the affects on their family should most certainly be taken into account when pronouncing sentence
Bail conditions to be much harsher
Parole conditions to be better defined, in that the perpetrators of crime MUST spend a minimum of 75% of their sentence behind bars (or other appropriate percentage – NOT 10%)
Not show un-due compassion simply because of a disability. If the disability did not prevent the perpetrator from committing the crime in the first place, why should it be a factor in mitigation of sentence?
No compassion to be shown for individual circumstances as a justification for committing an offence
Bottom line, we need to fix the problems with our justice system, not just sit back, throw up our hands and say “oh well, that’s the way it is”. As a people, we need to stand UP. We do not have to sit back and just accept everything as it is. We need a government that will work to fix the problems with our justice system (bearing in mind the current government that allowed our existing justice system to continue, this is something you should bear in mind when casting your vote). We need to build more Jails, we need to be far harsher with the criminal element in our society.
Remember the Victim, and the horror they went through, not sitting back and saying “ag shame” for the perpetrator! True Justice must prevail!
South Africa, we need to get our country right – WE have the duty to ourselves, to one another to do our part in building a better society. We can stamp out crime as far as humanly possible, and make the consequences of criminal actions so harsh that maybe, just maybe they will think twice about committing it.
JadedKnight
