When a sentence against a crime isn’t carried out quickly, people are encouraged to commit crimes. – Ecclesiastes 8:11
The topic of the rising crime rate is on the news every evening. But politicians and judges continue to struggle on how to reduce crime. While I know the problem of crime has multitudes of causes; I personally believe people are no longer afraid of the judicial system. Judges and courts have been negligent to sentence repeat offenders for serious crimes. Shawn Laval Smith who had a history of mental illness and a lengthy criminal record that stretched from coast to coast, was charged with the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old woman working in a LA furniture store. If convicted, it will be interesting to see his sentence.
People no longer respect (or fear) authority. Romans 13:1 Children are disruptive in school because authority has been removed. People no longer respect police because police have their hands tied in restraining crime. Criminals no longer fear our courts.
Of 339 inmates, roughly 10 percent of the death-row population, were under sentence of death for twenty years or more at the end of 2005 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005).
On October 3, 2018, seven law enforcement officers were shot, and five civilians were injured in Florence, South Carolina. Two of the officers were killed. Fredrick Hopkins was arrested and after three years is still awaiting trial. Who knows how long the trial will take? Then we will wait for the sentencing. And then we will wait years while he exhausts his appeals.
The Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees a defendant a speedy trail but what about a speedy trial for the victim's family?
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