Justice Law

Justice: Law’s Supreme Value Essay, Research Paper

What is just and what is unjust The trials of Donald Marshall Jr. and the Guilford Four are two examples of how the system can be wrong at times. These persons were wrongly tried for crimes they didn t commit, as well as being ridiculed by the system . Donald Marshall Jr., a young kid who served time for a murder that he witnessed, but did not commit. I believe that the system that was set up to protect him destroyed this young teenager as well as The Guilford Four by, an injustice of the justice system to simply ignore what it was set-up for, what it was set-up to do, and what it stood for. Between these two trials there seems to be only one thing that mattered to the Crown: to get their man by any means necessary (which means by bribing, cheating etc). To any politically correct human being, that s not morally right or just . Though it might be just to the person or persons who were the Crown in these cases that s not good enough for society. The Crown in each of these cases made a mockery of society by using what society wanted against them (to have some one convicted, even though the person or persons convicted were innocent). Society wanted someone convicted but they want the actual criminal, not some innocent man who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I believe there was nothing just about these cases due to the fact that the Courts believing and buying into the scheme that the Crown put forward. The scheme to simply ignore the rights and freedoms people have such as a right to a FAIR TRIAL which, none of the cases in question had. I believe that the only thing that was just about the trail of Donald Marshall Jr. was the fact that he was tried as an adult even though he was just 17 years old thus, proving that Plato has influence on modern day law. Even though Marshall was an innocent man, due to the charges laid against him, it was just to try him as an adult. That brings us to what is unjust. Between the two trails, the Crown in both cases destroyed innocent people. That was unjust. What also was unjust was the fact, that the Crown (in both cases) ignored the basic freedom s people have. The Crown lied under oath in the Marshall case, and did not give full disclosure to the Defense in the Guilford Four case. In the Marshall case, the officer (John MacIntyre) lied under oath and also bribed and pressured young witnesses to give false evidence to destroy the young Native. Also the only reason why MacIntyre singled him out so quickly as a probable suspect (Judge s inquiry). For an officer to do such a thing is a crime in itself and should have the officer tried for perjury and definitely having his badge removed due to a disgrace the uniform. Also in the case was that the information that the Attorney-General having the evidence that Marshall was not guilty but, having the deputy Attorney-General wanting the departments lawyers to argue against clearing Marshall is another conspiracy. In the Guilford Four case, the Crown kept an important document containing information that the Crown obviously knew but denied. The document was also said to have a post-it sticker on it describing the document not to be shown to the defense for an obvious reason: It would damage the Crown s case. The injustices by the justice system, however puts a dark cloud over these case s. Having the deputy Attorney General wanting the department s lawyers to argue against clearing Marshall. In the Guilford Four case, having a confession before your hands of one of their own (a British citizen), and doing nothing, not even a single charge is what damages the justice system. Formal justice requires that decisions about what people deserve be reached in a non-arbitrary and consistent manner. This means that formal justice is directly connected to doing things according to established legal rules and not according to the whims of individual officials. Having said this, the Marshall case was totally unjust. The officer s acted individually and also did not use proper procedure in conducting their investigations. Due to the requirement of formal justice implying that every person of whatever status is subject to the laws of the land, the officer s in these case s are and should be subject to gain status as law-breakers. The officer s were completely out-of-line when conducting their false investigations. Mr. MacIntyre should face charges of perjury but, due to being an officer of the law the courts decided not to pursue this action. Formal Justice should at all time protect individuals rights until proven guilty. The best part of our legal system is that one is innocent until proven guilt. Not Marshall. Marshall was guilty before going to trial, as was the Guilford Four. The officers of the law marked these men and women under racial circumstances (Marshall was a Native, the Guilford Four were Irish). Formal justice is the heart of the judicial system, if not followed individuals such as Donald Marshall and the Guilford Four suffer greatly due to officers of the law taking advantage of the system. The manner in which the courts came to these decision will be commented on for years (until another case like these comes along) but the courts inability to asses the facts that there was enough evidence to acquit Marshall in the first place is a total disgrace to the judicial system.

Substantive Justice refers to the content of the decis