...waffle about:

Crime and Punishment.
Day #2 in the 'manifesto for a better Britain' challenge. Also today I should set a reference range as I can't speak for the UK.

If you're expecting something funny and heartwarming I'm sorry. Come back next week, then I'll post more of the or glittery or weird stuff.

Crime and Punishment? Law and Disorder? Administrative and Criminal Offence? Are we talking on Juridical or Morally Level? Hmmm...

Legal system made by jurists and politicians as the mirror of society's need for freedom and justice.
Umm, does society want justice? Or revenge? Do members of society reflect about the difference? Or do they simply want to live their life in peace? But why the outcries then when it comes to broken laws by someone who doesn't affect the outcrier at all?

Laws are an agreements on how to run a society as an entire organism and to prevent single members of acting in a way that harms the range of actions from other members. And in consequence of carrying out their own justice/revenge when there is someone who harms their range.
Simple.

The legal system doesn't judge. It does just check if a law is violated.
I like that part of an interview of a music magazine I found once: 'The law is there to make the right decisions by using juries and so forth. Great, I support the law. However there are times when the law doesn't have any bloody teeth. Justice is not seen to be done. The most important thing about justice is not only that it is done but that it is seen to be done. (...) People don't believe that they're getting justice, that the law is fulfilling it's primary function - revenge. People put their trust in the law to carry out their revenge for them. If it fails to do that then the people carry out their own revenge.' (J. Sullivan, 1987)

I've got arrested. With a grave accusal afterwards (pacifically sitting somewhere). I've got arrested without. I've got an accusal just for publishing a leaflet with survey results (withput getting arrested, naturally). Absolved but not on court of first instance. It was all about having a very good advocate.
In my opinion we're not talking about crime here, naturally. But it is always in the eye of the beholder. Laws defines the differences between administrative and criminal offence. But laws are made by men and their opinion may change.

Will be protesting pacifically a crime in one future day? Will violating a person be classified as a severe crime one day? And what if we're not looking at our european country? Funny how opinions aka needs aka definitons can be different worldwide.
Oh, and I do make differences between these two cases obviously too, based on my morally values.

Interesting playground all that...

For more tangible and UK specific arguments see the original challenge's entry and the comments.

I love the quotes on my androblip. 'For every complex problem there is an answer that is short, simple and - wrong.'