A belief that the course of criminal justice is slow and
uncertain, that the chances are all in favor of the
defendant, and that he has but to resort to technicalities
to secure not only indefinite delay but generally ultimate
freedom, breeds an indifference amounting almost to arrogance
among law-breakers, powerful and otherwise, and a painful yet
hopeless conviction among honest men that nothing can prevent
the wicked from flourishing. Honesty seems no longer even a
good policy, and the young business man resorts to sharp
practices to get ahead of his unscrupulous competitor. In
some localities the uncertainty and delay attendant upon the
execution of the law is the alleged and maybe the actual,
cause of the community crime of lynching. Even where the
administration of justice is seen at its best many people who
have been wronged believe that there is so little likelihood
that the offender will after all be punished that the cheapest
and easiest course is to let the matter drop.
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