Why do you think law abiding citizens have no longer any faith in the Criminal Justice System?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/200808...

Totally agree SM-especially with the last one lol

Because the law is heavily weighted against the innocent parties and very much on the side of the criminal and their 'rights'. I personally believe that if you commit a crime (of any nature) you give up any rights and therefore should be punished with the full power of the law. It should be a hard punishment, not the easy time they get now that does nothing to stop criminals re-offending. The do-gooders and bleedin' heart liberals and guardanistas are traitors to this country.

Sorry to be in disagreement with so many, but is it because we have lost a sense of direction. Our criminal justice system used to be the envy of the world. However, poor drafting and political interference has led to a deterioration in quality. Public perception has been skewed by misreporting or politicians jumping on the bandwagon. Generally, we still have a good system but it is being changed by the politicians trying to look good in the press. Whereas before we had a system designed to protect the innocent at any cost, the system is now geared up to convict the guilty at any cost putting us at risk of returning to the miscarriages of justice of the 1970s.
As for light sentencing, given that we try to be civilized, what punishment can we give that fits the crime? A judge is not going to be able to impose a sentence for murder which will console the bereaved family or bring the deceased back is (s)he? There is also the competing factor of allowing the defendant the opportunity to be rehabilitated. We now have sentences for dangerous defendants which means that they serve longer in custody and are monitored for longer once they secure release (if they don't cooperate, they get returned to prison). Tariffs for life prisoners, merely mean that is the minimum term to be served. The prisoner still has to convince the parole board that (s)he is no longer a danger to the public - no easy feat because no parole board member wants to switch on the news to find that they have released someone who has gone on to re-offend. I think that the reports of those granted parole who do re-offend miss out that the are a small minority.
No criminal justice system can be perfect - it is operated by humans after all and all humans are prone to making error. The court system has to be objective and passionless to try and be fair. It has to try to be fair not only to the accused but also to the victims and witnesses. The modern criminal justice system is much better in that way.
Just my own humble opinion. Probably totally wrong

Justice is only justice when it is fair to all , but in Britain justice has a very poor sense of direction. Liberals Bleeding hearts and the PC brigade has replaced common sense and fair play . all atributes of a once proud nation called Brtain . Sadly now a shambles of stupidity and insane laws that punish the rightgeous and reward the Trangessor , sometimes with bribes to make them not commit crimes which must be hilarious to them and expencive for us , sometimes by being in denial and letting them of with a tap on the wrist hopping they will correct there ways . And if a citizan has the audacity to try to stop them attacking his person or his belongings they are subjected to the full rigours of the law . Being that the law refuses to a prosicute them when you complain , thats of course if they even bother to answer your phone call . You are dammed if you do anything and helpless if you do nothing a bit like living in madhouse .

i think the justice system is controled by special interests. for instance a congressman or senator investigated for a fraud or other things takes such a long time with delays that they think the citizens are going to be forget. when and if they go to court these high powered phony attorneys screw everthing up knowling that the case will be dismissed. i notice that the rep's always have a special commission investigate the subject. once awhile somebody gets the ax and then they go to the pen with all beneifits carred on by the government.

In the U.S. the courts have to protect the rights of the accused. The accused may be a serial killer, but the court has to make certain that all the procedures and the laws are followed so the accused gets a fair and impartial judgement. This often leads to the accused being found "not guilty as charged" and walking away a free person because of some minor procedural error.
I believe this more than anything has eroded the faith in the criminal justice system.

Personally I do have a degree of faith in the justice system in this country; especially when you think about what happens in some other countries.

We only ever hear about the few cases which are "Unjust," not the thousands which are "Fair."

So saying, the system here isn't perfect - but show me one that is.

I do have alot of faith inthe system. Judges do bend over backwards to enssure each side has a fair say and presents it's auguments. cases lik ethe Barry george one do tend to shake it a little but some people do not help themselves. i understand that part of his defence was that he was stalking another woman and that he has been convicted of rape. Now we can not put a man in prison for a crime he has not committed but sometimes well ---??????????????

Sweetwow is getting this round the back of her neck. Innocence must be presumed until guilt is proven. From that point on I agreee with much of whatshe says.

I find that someone being found not guilty because of irrelevant breaches of procedure intolerable

Because the gap between that which is illegal &that which is immoral is widening at an ever increasing rate.The lawyers we have elected to rule us obviously pass more & more laws to make more dosh for themselves-motorists fined for 35mph in30 mile limit,wrong rubbish in wrong bin,measures passed to get terrorists used to spy on people choosing schools,never mind the rest of aload of laws supposedly for our welfare but REALLY here for control.Then we need MORE police'MORE prisons,MORE snoops,MORE laws-MORE lawyers.Life is not fair.That's why we have the law.When the law itself makes life UNFAIRER,faith is lost

America has become very corrupt. Look at that congressman Jefferson, who took a $100,000 dollar bribe, and stuffed it into his freezer. Not only has he not been charged with anything: he got reelected!

The more money you got in America, the more justice you have. Look at OJ, or Puff Daddy, or all these other killers.

Because in the name of allegedly protecting those wrongly accused, they have let a lot of guilty people go free over technicalities, and they have kept some innocent people on Death Row for decades. Illinois has(or had, I'm not sure if we lifted it) a moratorium on the death penalty because of this.

It's all to do with all this 'human rights' business gone completely insane Plato.
Where are the Human Rights for the poor victims of crime??.........
Exactly.... !

Btw, why was this question deleted in CE?
I thought this WAS a current event - it being in the news 'n' all???

Because everything seems to be weighed in favour of the criminal's 'human rights', and law abiding people aren't allowed human rights. It's about time the 'goodies' stood up to be counted, before anarchy takes over completely.

The laws a sham everything has gone P,C soon every word we say will be scrutinised.The innocent suffer as the guilty are let of on technichalities,police have to gather mountains of evidence just to convict.choas is round the corner and it wants to destroy us.

some of the sentences handed out for a
serious crime are a bloody joke, if i was
a judge all pervs would get their knobs
chopped off. murderers locked up for 50
years,,, plus i'd look hot with one of those wigs.

Because of criminals and their human rights. Personally (after having watched the Dark Knight) they need somone to terrify these criminals but not kill them as they will always get protected.

Hello Plato!
Sorry, yet another pointless answer...I just wanted to say hello! lol!

Sure has done more harm than good.