{"id":1440,"date":"2014-03-31T17:24:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T22:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1440"},"modified":"2014-03-31T17:25:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T22:25:48","slug":"poem-impartiality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/31\/poem-impartiality\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Impartiality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge Stamper was renown<\/span>
\nFor his impartiality<\/span>
\nStill thinking<\/span>
\nNothing of<\/span>
\nPreferring<\/span>
\nStepping on others<\/span>
\nRather than being stepped upon<\/span>
\nA justice so becoming<\/span>
\nA courting to a void<\/span>
\nDeputizing peons<\/span>
\nSiding with minute ordnances<\/span>
\nBacked up by deferential canons<\/span>
\nAllege paper-thin<\/span>
\nUntoward the tramped<\/span>
\nHis honor<\/span>
\nLike a frozen statute<\/span>
\nWithout peers<\/span>
\nA connoisseur of contrived generosity<\/span>
\nMore accustomed to threat than promise<\/span>
\nOf a gavel from above<\/span>
\nAn arbiter of grievances<\/span>
\nA master of small sells<\/span>
\nTo captive audiences<\/span>
\nGleaning threadbare<\/span>
\nTake away messages<\/span>
\nA requiem of dis interest<\/span>
\nOverseers in black dress<\/span>
\nAnnunciating your last rights<\/span>
\nOffering little chance of success<\/span>
\nUnless over<\/span>
\nA game of squash<\/span><\/p>\n

This poem is a reflection on the criminal justice system, which is sometimes criminal.\u00a0 The alleged impartiality is a convenient notion for those doing the judging.\u00a0 Though if you look impartially at the effects of such a criminal justice system, you’d be hard pressed to say it is fair.\u00a0 The poor are the most likely to experience injustice at the hands of the criminal justice system.\u00a0 The same is true for people of color.\u00a0 The rich are the most likely to have the criminal justice system protect them, or punish their opponents.\u00a0 One only need look at who is in prison to see that prejudice is rampant, though noting who isn’t in prison surely cements the case.\u00a0 White collar criminals are much less likely than “common” criminals to be convicted.\u00a0 Also, if convicted, they receive much less punishment relative to the harm to society.<\/p>\n

Well engineered legalisms often bear little resemblance to the truth.\u00a0 Biases are institutionalized, blind to the injustice they create.\u00a0 The veneer of objectivity helps shield unconscionable acts from their true effects.\u00a0 Innocent until proven guilty is often reduced to he’s probably guilty if he was convicted.\u00a0 This sad state of affairs seems to fit under the moniker of the banality of evil.\u00a0 In an impersonal system, where human judgment is minimized and legalisms rule, personal responsibility is easily avoided.\u00a0 The most palpable confrontation with this reality was during the Nuremberg Trials<\/a>, following the horrors of Nazi Germany in World War II, which gave rise to a famous principle: It is not an acceptable excuse to say “I was just following my superior’s orders.”<\/p>\n

The banality of evil is not limited to war crimes, nor international crimes.\u00a0 The shifting of personal responsibility to an impersonal system is endemic in modern Western civilization.\u00a0 This is an everyday experience for many, if not most, people.\u00a0 Such experiences usually take one of the many forms of “I am just following the rules.” The real question should be: “Am I just, following the rules?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judge Stamper was renown For his impartiality Still thinking Nothing of Preferring Stepping on others Rather than being stepped upon A justice so becoming A courting to a void Deputizing peons Siding with minute ordnances Backed up by deferential canons … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[164,663,392,428,415,620,721,402,580,548,318,276,658,94,107,649,615,601,409,106,600,290,186,470,421,203,677,85],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-crime","tag-criminal-justice-system","tag-evil","tag-experience","tag-generosity","tag-impersonal","tag-injustice","tag-justice","tag-legalism","tag-modern","tag-nazi","tag-objectivity","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-poor","tag-prison","tag-punishment","tag-reality","tag-responsibility","tag-rich","tag-rules","tag-society","tag-state","tag-success","tag-truth","tag-war","tag-war-crimes","tag-western-civilization"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Impartiality | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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