Up until last Thursday my only real encounters with the justice system had been when a family member received a speeding ticket, and when a family member spent three hours in jail for forgetting a court date. Sure, I read stories on digg about how corrupt it is, but there's a big difference between reading about something and actually experiencing it.

The end of last August, my Dad recieved a ticket, and dutifully showed at court in October, only to be informed that the judge hadn't shown up that day, and the court date was reschedualed for Dec. Now, let's pause and think about this. If Dad didn't show up, he gets put in jail. If the judge doesn't show up, then the date is simply moved, and forgotten about. How messed it that?

But, last Thursday the long awaited court date arrived. My brother and I both went with my Dad. We must have seen oh, about 35 cases addressed. Names were called out, people stepped up, and sentences were dealt out. Please keep in mind that this is Alabama we're talking about.

"Possession of Marijuana? $500 fine"

"Public intoxication? $300 fine"

"Underaged drinking? (underaged as in, 19) $300 fine"

These were the kind of "crimes" that constituted the majority of cases. Why should someone be punished for completely voluntarily consuming something that is less harmful than alcohol? Why should someone be punished for celebrating with some friends after the football game, while not destroying any property at all? Why should someone who is in college, living on their own, and taking on the responsibilities that come with it, be punished for simply having a beer? Each of these cases in a victimless crime. They should not be punished. These are college kids we're talking about. How many of them can afford to suddenly pay a $300-$500 fine? Not to mention that most of them got their license suspended, so now they can't even drive to get to work.

There were two other cases of petty theft, and one of domestic violence(never clarified on what that was). One of the petty theft cases consisted of a woman taking something(under $50 dollars) from Wal-Mart. She was fined $800 dollars, banned from Wal-Mart for the next year, and her license suspended. When the judge asked her how much she made a month she answered

"$400" I winced.

Then he asked her if she anything to tell him she answered

"Only that I need to find another way to take care of my money problems." I think I felt my heart break at those words.

People always say "Oh we need to help the poor, let's turn to the state", when in fact, nothing abuses the poor more than the state. Why can't Wal-Mart have handled this case privately? Just said, "Look, pay us back for the item you took, and don't come back for a year". Why is neccessary to involve the state in this?

The state tells people "Now you owe us a bunch of money which you're going to have a hard time paying. And, we're not going to allow you to drive to work, so you can make that money."

How is this justice?