There Is No Justice When A Child is Murdered

Another young woman has been found murdered in Virginia. Evidence connects her murder to that of another murdered girl. The case is also connected to one, maybe two, rapes. And we wonder how many others there might be. Too many young women are still missing from the same area. Their families still have no answers and for some, it has been a long, long time. Is one monster responsible for them all? Will we ever know?

There is a reverberating question going around and around in my brain. I hear it no matter what I am doing and I can’t make it stop. As I stood at the kitchen sink methodically washing up the dishes, I heard it. “What is justice?” As I swept the fallen leaves off the patio today, there it was again. “What is justice?” When I sat picking at my lunch, it sat with me and echoed “What is justice? What is justice? What is justice?” Each time my response is the same. “There is no justice.”

There is no justice for the families of the missing or murdered here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There is no justice for those who have lost a friend or for those that put their lives on hold for weeks while they searched for answers. There is no justice for a community gripped in fear that a monster is prowling the streets looking for another victim. There is no justice.

I am heartbroken and I am angry. There is a struggle taking place within me. I have argued for fairness in our judicial system. I have carried the banner for civil rights and due process. In years past I fought for restoration of voting rights for those convicted of a crime and argued that all people deserve a second chance. Those opinions now lay like shattered glass on the surface of my heart. I don’t know what I believe anymore.

There is no justice. There it is again. I need to confront it; stare it down until it backs off a bit. So I tell myself, “of course there is justice”. But there is no justice.

The death penalty is too easy. Yes, it robs the monster of air and water, sun and stars. But it’s easy. It doesn’t hurt and it’s over in seconds. It’s so much easier than what the victims of this monster endured.

Life in prison? No, that really is too easy. It won’t take the monster long to spin his lies and build a visiting list of young women who believe he got a raw deal. Why should he get three meals a day? His victims weren’t fed before they were brutally murdered. Why should he have the privilege of recreation time? His victims will never feel the warmth of the sun on their face or feel the gentle breeze blow through their hair. This monster doesn’t deserve to live in prison where he can read and listen to music and even play softball. I’m sure his victims would love to do those things just one more time.

There is no justice. The monster took liberties with his victims, He took away their choice. He robbed them of an education, a career, and, the chance to have a family of their own. He did those things without a conscience and when he was finished, he tossed them aside like they were little more than garbage. He left them alone in the woods unable to tell us what other atrocities he committed against them. He took away their voice and left their broken bodies to tell the story. There is no justice, the monster got away with it for too long.

What should we do with the monster? If death and prison are too easy, what should we do with him. We are a civilized society. We can’t hurt those that he loves and make him watch. We can’t hang him in the center of town and torture him. Our system of justice doesn’t allow us to lock him away and never let him see another woman. Oh no, the monster has more rights than any of his victims and that just makes me angry.

There is no justice. The monster will sit in a climate controlled cell and sleep on a mattress until his trial. His victims were left on the cold hard ground. They weren’t warm and sleeping on a soft mattress. The monster will get a fair trial at our expense. That’s so much more than his victims got. And, no matter what the outcome, it will take years to get through the appeals. The monster will have medical care provided at our expense. He will have opportunities to learn and develop skills; all things that he stole from his victims. The monster will make phone calls to his family and friends while the families of his victims long to hear their voice again. Is that justice?

The monster, if he is convicted, will be protected. There are many inside the prison that would love to have five minutes behind a closed door with the monster. There will even be staff at the facility that would like those same five minutes with the monster. But no, we will protect the monster from becoming a victim of violence. We won’t let anyone hurt him and if they try, he will be moved and placed in a more secure setting. They call it protective custody. Why should we protect him? He’s a monster. Is that what we call justice?

There it goes again, the reverberating question….what is justice…what is justice…what is justice? Perhaps I am better off not knowing the answer.