Hey G,
How are you? Hope you got those pictures of me and my friend and those of the flags?
Some remarks regarding America:
I have kept a keen eye on one or two things in America, more specifically some aspects of the Justice and Correctional systems in the US that I find curious.
Firstly, the interaction of law enforcement officers (“cops”/Marshalls/State Troopers/Sheriffs) with the American public (all citizens for the most part). It seems these law enforcement officers, for the most part are very aggressive, overly sensitive, trigger happy – including the drawing of fire arms and breaking into homes (literally breaking down doors and doorways to gain entry) - and wielding excessive authority.
Please note that I am not talking about law enforcement and its interaction with black people. This is not what I am talking about at the moment.
This does not really happen -generally speaking - in South Africa. Perhaps white people are historically insulated here from this and it might happen more in townships. And police misconduct and brutality does certainly happen. When you are stopped by the police in a road block, hardly ever pulled over as often seems to happen in America (again it does happen here, but not as a rule), there is a clear reason and subsequently a resolution. So, for instance, you were caught speeding; your driver’s licence is checked and you are issued a fine and you go. Or, there is a road block by the South African Police and once again your licence is checked and perhaps the boot (trunk) of you car and there you go on your way. In the US, my perception is that the police are everywhere, that they will stop you or pull you over for any and all reasons (for instance a broken tail light on your car) and arrest you for many reasons, like alcohol abuse at some point in your past, or some misdemeanor at another, and if you resist the firearm comes out very quickly. We also do not have police cars standing at a corner to check if everything is in order…the traffic officers do this (some of the time), but this is for traffic policing for instance checking for speeding and then issuing speeding tickets. This issuing of speeding tickets is a bit of a money making effort and although taken seriously by the law, it is not weighty in terms of your criminal record or even your driving record and people often don’t pay all their fines or the fines incurred in another province.
Police shootings and deaths are also a bit different here. Yes, the police in South Africa are engaged in a war-like situation with crime, but this is mostly with cash in transit robbers, robbers of shopping malls and things like that. Many police are actually shot by criminals/gangsters/syndicate members wielding AK47’s and other powerful assault weapons. It is my perception that many ordinary citizens or even shady, but mostly harmless characters are involved in deadly altercations with the police in America.
Another two things that have piqued my interest is the justice system and the correctional system in America. In the Justice system you, as an offender have the plea bargaining option, depending I suppose on what you have done (but even heinous crimes can have a plea bargain added into the state of affairs) and you have the three strike situation (of which I don’t know that much and how prevalent it is), where a third offence borders on the whole system coming down on you like a ton of bricks, i.e. expect a heavy sentence after your third offence of the same nature. The South African system is a bit more causal. The offence is committed and there is a punishment connected to it and aggravating extenuating/mitigating circumstances influences the length of the sentence or type of sanction. An aggravating situation might be a tougher sentence or sanction when you are a habitual offender.
Just as an aside: We don’t have a jury system here, just a judge hearing the case and doing the sentencing. I think the jury system does have some merit to arrive at a just conclusion and just sanction/penalty for offences and offenders.
What is fascinating and quite frankly scary for me in the correctional system you have there in the States (I suppose it also ties into the Justice system) is that you can be sentenced to life in prison literally for life. So if a sentence is ‘life without the possibility of parole’ this often means exactly that in many States. Many offenders that are very young can face the same penalty and idle in prison for the rest of their lives, even for crimes that did not include homicide. Amazing!
Another aspect is the death penalty, which I agree with in certain heinous cases and the corollary of life in prison (as I mentioned) and lock-up in solitary confinement. It seems odd that America is retreating and pulling back from the death penalty, but can lock away someone for life and often because of the seriousness of the crime or the perceived inability of the offender to be rehabilitated they locked-up in solitary confinement. This solitary confinement is a subject itself, but can include mental health problems for those exposed to it. I suppose the victims or the victims of the families are not too bothered about that.
There is this Bible passage that says “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), but I have often thought that it is a bit terrible to fall into the hands of the police and the US justice system. What is your take on this?
That’s about what I had to say.
Kindest regards,
Omar.
