The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor

to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread

 

There is seldom justice to come out of courthouses and when it does it is either an accident or in spite of the court. Where is the justice when the proletariat and bourgeois have to pay the same fine? The working man has to forgo a meal and the entitled rich person says “That’s just how much it costs to park there” barely noticing the punishment at all.

 But that’s only the beginning. Consider the war on drugs. In reality, it is a war on humanity. No one thinks a dolphin is a junkie when it gets high on pufferfish. No one sends a cat to NA for liking catnip. Drugs are a normal part of the freedom to pursue happiness because all beings possess an innate drive to alter reality, from coffee to LSD.

So where is the justice when you throw someone in jail for pursuing happiness to the detriment of no one else? Where is the justice when you throw an addict in jail for something they have little control over?

Consider plea deals. It is illegal and indeed wrong to make promises or threaten someone into pleading guilty. The judge asks every defendant the question “Are you pleading of your own free will?”. If not then you are under duress and the plea is invalid. But when a prosecutor deprives you of your right to trial by threatening you with the Death penalty if you exercise your right and promises you only a life sentence if you plead guilty, it’s completely fine. After all, as with all things, it’s not illegal when the state does it.

What about strict liability crimes? Can you really be just when there are facts you won't even acknowledge?

How about mandatory minimums? Can you be just when there is a certain amount of punishment you must give no matter what?

Speaking of punishment, it's overbearing. Get into a reciprocal slap fight at the bar? Not only will you be kidnapped for an undisclosed amount of time, but you will also be extorted for thousands of dollars, and be arbitrarily put on a leash whose function is a revolving door where you have to follow the law+

 

If you don’t have the money… back to jail

If you smoke a joint… back to jail

God forbid you to point out what they are doing because then they will throw the book at you for having no remorse and not thinking you deserve to be excessively punished for a petty crime. Indeed, It is the passive acceptance of the state of society that blinds us to the cruel reality of our practices.

 

 The tightest microcosm of the whole ordeal is the fact that the presumption of innocence and the right to a trial are jail sentences in and of themselves that can be bought out of.

This topic could go for as many pages as there are laws, and it should be noted that no one knows how many laws there are. In fact, there are so many I can say with utmost confidence that every single person alive has broken the law.

Hence the ironic statement “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”.

 

It’s easy to tell when authority is self-aware of this, but it’s the majority who aren’t that are the most frightening. They consider themselves to be good people, and because they’ve already put so much work into the system, they must believe what they are doing is right no matter how much the truth rears its ugly head. They believe in their corrupt brand of justice wholeheartedly and they celebrate their monuments to the domination of mankind.

 

People like to forget that governmental power does not justify itself and in fact, the founders of this country viewed governmental power as a prime evil whose necessity had to be closely managed by the people which it ruled.

There’s a reason the first two rights listed in our protections against the government are the pen and the sword, but we’ve lost sight of that and given up our freedom and our right to manage our own lives in favor of ease and security. Truly, I can think only of one right that has been left unscathed and that’s only because the 3rd amendment has not been applicable for hundreds of years.

 

You can say what you want! Unless you’re Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning or an Anarchist organizing protests.

You can own armaments! Unless you want weaponry sufficient to challenge military hardware as the founders intended.

You’re free from unreasonable searches and seizures! Unless we decide to randomly run your plate and the dog we’ve trained smells ‘something’ in your car and unless we want to sell your property at the police auction.

You’re free to remain silent and can’t be harassed for the same crime multiple times! Unless we compel you to aid in an investigation and unless we decide to just keep changing the charges until you’re convicted.

You’re guaranteed a trial and get to see all the evidence laid out against you, question any witnesses, and are entitled to legal representation to help you! Unless we coerce you into a plea bargain.

You’re free from excessive punishment! But we get to decide whether we’re being excessive or not.

You have other rights too! Except the right to travel, the right to privacy, the right to self-defense, etc. only go as far as the judge’s acknowledgement of their existence.

 

And all of that, unless we label you a terrorist.

 

Let it be remembered that the utterance of these rights on a piece of paper is not what gives us these rights. That the government is not the one who bestowed these rights upon us, we have always had them, they are inherent to our humanity, and the state is grossly overreaching with a monstrous abuse of power by depriving us of them.