There are a number of laws in this country. So many, and so intricate in fact, that most everyday citizens are easily lost when it comes to understanding the complex details. But being a good, law abiding citizen boils down to the simple idea of being a decent human being, and having the capacity to be aware of your surroundings. Many places have different laws. These laws can even be different from closely neighboring states or communities, so it is wise to educate yourself on what is lawful when you venture elsewhere.
It is one thing to need to look up zoning laws if you are building in a new area, or parking regulations or city ordinances, but everyone knows the obvious laws. There isn’t a sane person anywhere who will legitimately try to pass off murder, violence, robbery, or the need for a sex crime attorney as ignorance of the law. There are those, however, who will claim that they are innocent of such claims, no matter how the evidence or case is stacked against them. The thing is, many of them are telling the truth.
When the courts get it wrong
Being a judge or an attorney is no walk in the park. Deciding the fate of a person’s life based on what you decipher of their guilt or innocence is definitely not something to take lightly, and is no easy task. Sometimes a person who did not commit the crime ends up paying the punishment for it. In fact it is estimated that every year, there could be as many as 10,000 individuals across the United States serving sentences for a serious crime they did not commit. This could happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps the trial was not as thorough as it should have been.
Unfortunately, not everyone gets the responsible, compassionate lawyer that they deserve. Sometimes there is, for whatever reason, too much apparent evidence against them, or those involved in very public or high profile cases are pressured to wrap things up quickly, resulting in hasty or careless proceedings and rulings. And the process for fixing these convictions can be complex and arduous. In the United States alone, almost 4,000 collective years have been spent in prison by innocent people. Over the course of almost 30 years, somewhere around 300 convictions were overturned because of new or newly available DNA evidence. To avoid this mess, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the law, you will want to make sure that you find a quality, thorough and caring lawyer who will do everything that he or she can to protect your rights and ensure that justice is served.
When the legal system gets it right
Good lawyers are necessary to keep innocent people free, but also to guarantee that those with blatant disregard for the law end up serving the sentences that they deserve. Those who commit murders, are involved in domestic violence cases, or find themselves in the same room as a sex crime attorney should not be trying to find the easiest way out. The fact that they usually do try means that quality sex crime attorneys need to be working hard to prove that they are not innocent, getting them served with the proper consequences. One of every four women will experience some form of domestic violence at some point in her life, and too often this involves sexual assault. Sex crime attorneys can help to protect not only the rights of these women, but their very lives.
It is not a complicated thing to follow the law. The laws exist to protect all citizens. When those laws need to be altered or updated, there is a way to do it that does not involve breaking it. If regular citizens and lawmakers can work together to keep the legal system as efficient and fair as possible, then there can also be the necessary focus on the country’s mental healthcare, as many who break the law egregiously could have been prevented from doing so with the proper mental care and treatment.