| Thanks for your comment. I think a lot of people are not understanding it. To a large extent (not completely) law enforcement and the greater justice system exist to mitigate contention in society. If the target of a law enforcement action is rich or famous, and the crime is not active or physically damaging, then it will be contentious to arrest the rich/famous criminal. If the criminal is not rich or famous, or if the crime is physical (murder, assault, etc) then the arrest will be less contentious, and the police will proceed. Up until now, it has not been at all contentious for the police to arrest/abuse lower status persons. In the case of a contentious arrest of a high status person, arrest will be delayed until the exact charges are known and believed to be provable. --- I am describing the system as I see it now, not the system that I think should exist. The faults described here are not faults of individual members of any justice system, they are faults of society and we ascribe value. Before replying to this comment, please think about policing in feudal societies and consider the lessons of Foucault in "Discipline and Punish". |