At first I was very hesitant to even blog about the issue that my good friend has been going through but after sitting in the courtroom and experiencing the apparent unjust set forth by the West Virginia Judicial system I felt the need to express my feelings.
Ever since I was little I always believed that the courts were fair -- took murders and rapist off the streets all while giving a fair and speedy trials. (I grew up in a rough neighborhood, so I seen and heard a lot of people having to go in and out of the courts and lockup.) But not until these past two years have I ever seen such abuse and outside factors affect how the law is interpreted. Because of what was going on I had become more interested in the judicial system, sentencing and life behind bars via research into similar cases or hours/days filled with C-Span or "Lockup" the television series. I just had to know as much a possible; I didn't want my friend in this alone. I guess you can say I became a bit obsessed-- I realized this when a librarian asked me if I was studying for law school because she had seen me looking up so many law text books and case studies. From all my research one thing became obvious that judges take into consideration a persons whole character in deciding their fate, including past actions and lifestyle. Only in the most severe of cases had I seen a first time offender receive the maximum sentence, yet on April 20 I heard a judge sentence my friend to the maximum sentence available, plus extreme amounts of restitution and cart her off to jail without even the ability to say goodbye to her family and friends.
Did the judge had her own personal vendetta? Was justice really served? Had she even taken into consideration the events that lead up to the accident? Was this trial really speedy and just?
I don't believe so! Not once will I ever excuse what happened the night in question; but I will say for every action there is a reaction and the events leading up had some part to play in what happened whether good or bad.
Ranked among the worst in the country I now am a firm believer that West Virginia's Judicial system is still in the past-- somewhat unable to see past lines we all believed were gone including race, orientation, origin and family lineage.
Signing out...
Brooklyn Girl**
