No More Box

Yesterday morning I had to go to court. It is a long story, but the short version is some kids spray-painted my fence and I was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpoena">subpoenaed </a>to appear in court in regards to the case. [of course I didn't actually get the subpoena, but the lady on the phone was pretty particular about me coming.]

So yesterday morning, my wife and I rearranged our schedules and I drove to the other side of town for this court case involving one of the boys who spray-painted my fence.

Let me tell you a bit more of the story…

Hours after my fence was tagged, a police officer knocked on my door to inform me that the boys had been caught and had me sign a paper stating that I did not, in fact, give them permission to spray paint my fence and that I would be willing to press charges. He felt confident that the repainting of my fence would be paid for and would let me know if anything developed.

A few weeks later, a guy called me from a program called Restorative Justice. He told me that two of the boys involved had opted to enter his program. This program kept the kids out of the court system (no record) and gave them an opportunity to restore the damages they inflicted. My wife and I picked out a paint color, and over the course of three weekends, these boys repainted my fence (all 285 feet of it). It actually looks better than before they spray-painted it.

In the mean time, the third boy pleaded not guilty. He chose not to enter the program that kept him out of the system. He chose not to take the opportunity to restore the damages he inflicted. He chose to "take his chances in court."

And that brings us to yesterday.

While I was there I got to watch a couple different trials take place. Some of them more serious than the one I was involved in and some about the same. The "take your chance in court" catch in the system, apparently, is this: If the victim doesn’t show up, you walk.

So because I showed up, he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

Did you catch that? Not because of my testimony on the stand. Not because of my eye-witness account (I didn’t even see this happen and don’t know this kid from any other kid). Simply because I showed up. I signed in, it was confirmed I was in the courtroom (prior to court), and that was it. Nobody talked to me. I wasn’t questioned. I didn’t sign anything. I wasn’t sworn in. Nobody even checked my ID to make sure it was me.

Anyways…

I feel like I was victimized twice. Once by this kid (and friends) when they spray-painted my fence. And once by the court system when they wasted my morning.

But all this has me thinking about justice and our justice system. I have been thinking about it for a while, but this is my first encounter with it first hand. I still don’t have my head wrapped around this thing.

It seems unfair to me that this kid’s friends spent three weekends painting my fence and if I hadn’t shown up in court he would have walked away completely free and clear. I don’t feel vindictive, in any way. I don’t feel like he deserves to pay for the crimes he committed.

If my fence was still a mess and the other boys hadn’t already painted it, maybe I would feel stronger about getting justice for myself, for getting what I deserve. I actually felt like I was getting justice for the boys who had already righted the wrong.

So if by some chance you are out there (you know who you are), I hope that you will overcome the obstacles you have created for yourself. I wish that you had made better choices (like not painting my fence or pursuing the chance to right the wrong through hard work rather than chancing the court system). I hope that in the future you will make better choices for yourself and for those around you.

As for Justice… I am still thinking about what that means. I don’t know if what happened yesterday was justice, or just our court system following the rules and the procedures. But maybe that is all "justice" is. (kind of sad if that is the case).

Tags: justice, crime