20 September 2012

And Justice For None

Somewhere there's a T-shirt that reads: "If you want peace, work for justice."

The Puerto Rican version would be: "If you want a piece of the loot, work for Justice."

The justice system We have is composed of three main parts: law enforcement, the court system and the penal system. Let's examine each one, briefly:

Law enforcement: Subject to FBI raids and U.S. of part of A. Justice Department investigations. Plural on both accounts.

Court system: Plagued by political cronyism, sloppy legal "work" and inexperienced (and uncaring) prosecutors, leading to a 21% drop in crime charges filed, at a time when major crimes have increased close to 31%.

Penal system: Overcrowded, under control of local gangs, used as political muscle (the statehood party knows all about this) and riddled with drugs and their related violence.

Now before I go on, let Me say something to those who dismiss all this with a casual "It's those drug folks killing each other over there, that's all." My response: Shut your fucking piehole. One, because you are definitely taking the easy, lazy, scummy way out of not thinking about what's going on. Two, because you're too stupid and too lazy to realize that on an island, everybody is connected to everybody else...per force. Your refusal to acknowledge that is as idiotic as saying "The gangrene in my foot is just an infection over there." You and your attitude make Me want to puke. In your face. Twice.



It isn't an "over there," caserío y barriada de mala muerte problem. It isn't about puntos or bichotes: it's about all of Us. Here's a brief breakdown:

Why did the FBI have to engage in a huge police raid here? Because the level of corruption in the police force and the local Justice Department meant that We couldn't do it Ourselves.

Where did this level of corruption come from? The drug trade and political cronysim. Proof? Prosecutors, judges and high-ranking police officers have long been selected by political affiliation more than by merit. Toss in millions of dollars in drug money with self-serving rapacious vermin who owe no allegiance to anything even remotely resemblimng a value or an ideal and you have...corruption. Deep and broad.

Where do these cancerous worlds of drugs, influence and violence come together? In the "Justice" system, where cops on low pay take payments for protection, prosecutors kiss ass ro engage in political favoritism, judges make rulings based on dollars and cents rather than legal precedents and prisons become centers of influence to put more lipstick on the leprous pig it all is.

So you have drug dealers cozying up to elected officials who use the police to monitor their illegal business while prosecutors are slotted into jobs as favors and ordered to waste their time in frenzied political persecution and judges look the other way when facts tell them to stare at the Truth, their angle of look-away directly related to monetary gain they enjoy in doing so.

Justice is not blind here, not even close. It has eyes and hands everywhere, perverted from a system of checks to a cash-based free-for-all. You might think it's all happening "over there," but think about how far "over there" is when you hear about a shooting in a shopping center you visit, or in front of a restaurant you like, or when a cop pulls you aside for no reason you can discern. Because at that point, "over there" is "right here," and do you trust the Justice system We've allowed to rot to treat you fairly?

If you do, you're headed for a huge, maybe even fatal, disappointment.



The Jenius Has Spoken.


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