Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for April 10, 2019

So sad

Equal justice under the law is a noble concept but a distant reality.

White rich male? Or wealthy celebrity/athlete? You’ll never get the death penalty, and even very serious felonies will likely get you a sentence below the minimum on the sentencing guidelines (just ask Paul Manafort) after judicial proceedings that last years.

Black young male? Selling loose cigarettes on a street corner or just driving with a broken tail light could get you the death penalty, but at least you will have a “speedy trial” — your “street [in]justice” will take just a few minutes at most.

As much as I hate to agree with it…

As designed.

It’s really scary what Bonespurs is stacking the courts with, and it ain’t just SCOTUS that’s critical.

Your dollar buys justice as much as anyone’s dollar.

It’s not just the courts. You can be tried and convicted on TV long before your trial even starts.

What happened to the blind lady with the sword?

Too true.

Eish! Here in Africa we like to see the good in all people – try it! You may find you become a better person.

Lady Justice is blind, ….. but only on the right eye!

It’s not the kind of work that really appeals much to nice people.

State courts, as well….

A Harvard study showed there was no bias by the police in American. Look it up if you don’t believe me. However, in the courts think “Smollett”.

…like Jussie Smollett.

“In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.”

Anatole France

Le Lys Rouge [The Red Lily] (1894), ch. 7

The Golden Rule: “Whoever has the Gold makes the Rules!”

…and political position.

I do not disagree with anything I have read here but having grown up in the deep South on a tobacco farm in an area where the majority of the population was/is black I have found that there is one significant factor that leads to much of the problems talked about above. In my conversations while working side-by-side with both the black anwd white workers on our farm I found that there appears that people assume that the laws that they must follow are different for whites and blacks. For instance the idea of walking down the middle of a street instead on on the sidewalk or side of the road is OK if you are black. This is just the way that many blacks feel and comes from the socioeconomic environment that many are raised where in the “Hood” the streets are the playground for children. When one is told to get out of the middle of the street it is akin to telling one to get off the playground and he/she sees no reason to obey that order. As that person’s background usually involves the teaching that police cannot be trusted (which may be true to some extent) it will likely result in a confrontation. In one famous case that we have all heard about it resulted in the police shooting a black man for seemingly just walking down the street. Also we should all take note that seldom do the smartphone cameras come out until the confrontation has already escalated. As a young boy I remember my father having to go to the jail many times on Sunday morning to bail one of the workers out. I would talk the worker later about why he got arrested and it always seemed that although what they knew what they did (many times for carrying a gun or drunk and fighting etc.) was illegal they saw nothing wrong with it and would get charged with that same thing again. I remember clearly the segregated South where we would work together all day as one group but when we would go home there was two different thoughts about the laws we needed to obey, the morals, the ethics and overall life.

The caveat at the bottom of the sign has ruled since there began to be differences in income and status in society. Something like almost the entire life span of the human race. Which offers little confidence in the belief that it will be changed any time soon.

Where you live also matters.

This community has more long-winded commenters than any other comic I follow.

…and celebrity status.

I want everything to be equal, but I want it to be more equal for me!

Funny this strip shows up the same morning I hear about citizens deemed too poor to afford their own council getting a bill for the services of their public defenders…

Just like to take a second to say that assuming this is true, it’s been true regardless of Presidential administration or who controlled the House.

Not a funny comic today, just presentation of factual reality.

The Courts are the foundations of democracy, and the GOP has been undermining them for years. The Kavanaugh and Garland nominations exemplify this perfectly !

this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. so help me god !!!!!

The courts in the USA deal with over 100 million case matters per year. It is easy to “cherry pick” matters that one disagrees with because of experience and/or political philosophy. We have many examples of rich/powerful persons who have had judgments against them such as the Trump University matter. Now if one really believes that this can be made better some support for the Legal Services Corporation would be in order: https://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/who-we-are

When has justice really been ‘for all’. It only really works when the rich or powerful want someone they like to get off easy. Strangers and enemies get the max ‘to set an example’.

This is an American (USA) comic with mostly American (USA) readers and most of the comments point to BLM. If this comic was read in India, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, it would be about WLM…Women Lives Matter. All about perspective, I guess.

It is not referred to as “the CRIMINAL justice system” for nothing. It is indeed criminal.

That reality may not be as distant as you think. Not if we ALL stand together and demand true equality in treatment under the Law. But that will also require rewriting most of them after reinforcing that concept within our Constitution.

Miller – what the heck is wrong with you? Don’t we have enough strife in this country? Sheeeeshhh!

The new “normal”!

I’m still waiting for my white privilege to kick in.

Cute, but widespread misunderstanding of the justice system. Easier to criticize than understand or try to improve I suppose.

When someone makes an over the top statement like this, it’s hard to take him/her seriously. It’s like talking to an emotional teenager. One has to wonder where they went to school. In reality, equal justice prevails at least 95% of the time (probably more), but all that is publicized are the few aberrations that make the news (probably 1%). That’s what happens when you believe fake new.

One of the pans on the scale should be tipping it from the weight of gold coins in it.

Not original but we need to keep at it.

The law favors the wealthy over poor, white over black/brown, male over female. Maybe because the law was written by wealthy white men.

Welcome to the assterisk administration.

Sadly true.

Life in the American Plutocracy

Honesty and accuracy have no place in government. This is America, after all.

You forgot political party

Worked for a company once that made a big deal about their founding principles one of which was “Respect the rights and dignity of all employees”. Unfortunately, they left out the part “unless the almighty dollar gets in the way”.

Actually should have said justice for those supporting liberal policies and protected classes fvored by liberals. All others can take a hike.

Justice may be blind, but she can still smell!

Can you say Jussie Smollet!!!!!!!

Race has little to do with justice… it is ALL about the $Money$. A poor person of ANY race will suffer exactly the same… just as a rich person of any race will likely skate unless they’ve made some influential enemies.

Justice may be blind but lawyers demand money.