This is something of a rant against the justice system, the purpose of which may seem at times to be to gain conviction and lengthen sentences rather than establish the truth. Naive citizens, caught up in some illicit activity, may be mere lambs voluntarily going to their slaughter in the belief that the system will ensure that a jury is influenced only by proven fact and that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. Career criminals will, of course, find a way to profit from it.
We should remember that, when a prosecution counsel states something as fact which they know to be untrue, they are deemed to have been mistaken. If they omit to state an important fact which is on the public reacord or part of the evidence, they are deemed to be ill-informed. When a defendant does these things, they are deemed to be dishonest.
Enough said for this poem, I suppose.
Prosecution Counsel
Perverse this prosecution counsel
Victory by verdict his sole concern
Truth and justice, merely minor matters
As his well-groomed jurors to the court return
So animated as guilt pronounced
So still his face when the innocents rise
Astonishing amorality in this man
A master of myth and stilted surprise
Justice for him has no moral base
Cultured, and of curiously calm disposition
An unsympathetic, soapbox speaker
A proud professional of inquisition
Innuendo and inference
The tools of his tawdry trade
This doctor of denigration
Conviction his career has made
As his victims are led away
He turns, triumphant to his peers
Even the defence acclaims his skills
Salutations of success ring in his ears
Does he sleep well at night?
Is he disturbed by drug-induced dreams?
Has he no concern for others’ plight?
Is he as insincere as he seems?
Questions that remain unanswered
For the world, uninvolved, does not care
The victims for them are defined in the News
Little thought whether justice is firm or fair
Society seeks its pound of flesh
From whoever is put on the stand
The prosecutor drives judge and jury
Others’ fate in the palm of his hand
But do not hope that he’ll change his ways
As he grows older, wiser and sadder
He’ll be replaced by one even more eager
To climb the Establishment ladder