A Harsh Sentence For O.J. Simpson Will Get Us Nowhere
On Friday, former running back and current memorabilia enthusiast O.J. Simpson will learn the length of his prison sentence. Simpson, who was successfully prosecuted for a Las Vegas gun robbery this year, could conceivably face anything from a few weeks to sixty years.
Do you take joy in that? Do you catch yourself smiling whenever Simpson finds himself in trouble? Because I do, and I wonder whether I should.
There’s nothing wrong with believing that Simpson committed the double murder he was acquitted of thirteen years ago, and I understand if you believe that a lengthy prison sentence here will serve as a deserved, if underwhelming, piece of retribution by proxy. I understand it, but I’ve decided lately that I can’t go along with it.
If Simpson gets hit with a long sentence Friday and we appropriate it to karmic justice, we’re being naive. If Simpson did commit a double murder a decade ago, he largely got away with it. It’s done. My heart does not especially bleed for the memorabilia dealer who saw a gun in his face and his autographs stolen. We would love for this to satiate our desire for justice, but to transfer our emotions from one trial to another is not only dishonest, it runs directly contrary to what our justice system is supposed to stand for.
There is substantial speculation that Simpson could receive a sentence reflective of this emotion; that is to say, twenty years for a first-time convict who grabbed a gun and stole some collectibles. If we’re going to bemoan the compromised justice system exhibited in the 1995 case in one breath, and hope for an objectively unjust judicial result in the next, we should understand that justice is an art that we, apparently, are unable to appreciate.
I am still trying to reconcile my personal disdain for Simpson with a respect for the ideas and ideals of American justice. It’s difficult, but we cannot allow our hatred for a single misanthrope to compromise our perception of justice. If anything, Simpson’s murder acquittal should inspire us to scrutinize the factors that allowed him to walk.
Whether or not Simpson “deserves” an unduly long sentence is irrelevant. We may have seen our understanding of justice violated once; the last thing we need is to see it violated again, regardless of which way it swings.
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http://ginovandewalle.com/oj-simpson-from-hero-...
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The difficult issue the judge has to wrestle with (and creating wet dreams for law nerds) is whether OJ's sentence will be enhanced based on prior acquitted conduct. This says sentencing could technically factor into any judgment against him where the preponderance of evidence was used as a threshold to determine guilt, thus his guilty verdict in civil court could be used to sentence him Friday as a person responsible for the murder of two people despite being exonerated from this charge in criminal court, where the threshold of beyond a reasonable doubt exists. Simpson may in fact "deserve" one under a strict legal definition after all.
Follow these links if interested in the legal discussion:
http://volokh.com/posts/1223150388.shtml
http://volokh.com/posts/1190048872.shtml
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