Criminal justice system in need of an overhaul

THE EDITOR: Our criminal justice system needs to be changed. Violent criminals no longer fear being caught; they kidnap, extort, invade homes, rob, rape, and murder with impunity. If they are arrested, easy bail allows them back on the streets in no time at all.

By the time they are prosecuted by our understaffed and lethargic Office of the DPP several years and many crimes later, sloppy police investigations and tainted evidence (more the norm than the exception) allow them back on the streets, free again to commit even more crime.

If they are convicted, they benefit from judicial sentencing guidelines that are more empathetic than punitive, and which are inconsistent with the most fundamental and legitimate purpose and justification of punishment: retribution.

Such guidelines with their "jail time" discounts need to be changed in favour of mandatory sentencing. Also, judicial discretion should be removed when sentencing those who are convicted of heinous, gruesome crimes because, clearly, that discretion is not being used in society's interest.

Also, the law regarding the appointment of judges needs to be amended to allow applicants for judgeships to be questioned on their judicial philosophy and personal views on the issue of capital punishment.

It's time judges start fulfilling the true purpose of our legal system; it's time they address the disparity between applying the law and delivering true justice. For too long they have done one and fallen short on the other. Their rulings have denied murder victims and their families the justice they deserve.

The murders of Sean Luke, six; John Cropper, 59; Maggie Lee, 88; Lynette Lithgow-Pearson, 57; Stephen Lee, 83; Selwyn Grant, 65; his wife Ursula Innis,70; Ian Friday, Rashel Ali, Samdaye Rampersad, and so many others too numerous to detail here come to mind.

Their killers were given sentences that lacked morality and fairness, and were not proportionate to their crimes; they escaped the death penalty and received discounted sentences that were mindful of their "rights," but ignored the rights of the victims and their aggrieved families.

In short, our criminal justice system needs to be overthrown. In making that call I am cognisant of the Prime Minister's oft repeated reference to "the great wall of China that separates the judiciary from the government" (his favourite excuse for his administration's inaction on crime). So let it be clear that I am not advocating the overthrow of the government, although I would welcome its legitimate removal.

I am simply calling for the departure, whether voluntary or coerced, of those under whose leadership and administration our criminal justice system has become the disappointing and frightening failure it is today.

ANTHONY STANISCLAUS

Maraval