Justice?

   When I think of Justice, episodes of Law and Order SVU pop into my head.  All of the episodes involve a perpetrator, victim, and some sort of justice.  A man rapes a teenage girl, he is caught, he goes to Riker's.  Justice in this case seems pretty straight forward.  I mean, who cares what happens to the guy?  He raped an innocent 15 year old girl didn't he?  And he will probably do it again if he gets off.  By him going to prison, the girl and her family receive justice and he gets what he deserves.  Simple. 
   But what if this story wasn't so simple?  What if the 15 year old girl hooks up with guys from her school all the time?  What if she stole her older sister's ID so she could get into a club?  What if she picked a guy up at the club and they "hooked up" and then afterwards, her parents found out he was 22 and they talked their daughter into pressing charges?  If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is forever labeled a sex offender, is that justice?
   What if the man actually does rape the 15 year old girl?  He sees her walking down the street, followers her into an alley, and rapes her.  But what if he suffers from schizophrenia or any other mental condition and has been off his medication?  What if he would have taken his medication but he is homeless and doesn't have access or money to see a doctor to write a prescription?  What if he was sexually abused as a child?  What if he has flashbacks and paranoid episodes of when he was abused and he was not aware of his actions when he raped the girl?  If he gets the maximum sentence for rape and is sent to prison, is that justice?
   What if the perpetrator was a woman and she raped a 15 year old boy?
   What if the perpetrator was a boy who just turned 18 and the victim was his underage girlfriend who he has been dating for over a year?  What if the girl victim originally wanted to have sex and then after got scared claimed it was rape?  Do all these different situations deserve the same sort of "justice"? 
   I know these are just hypothetical situations I am comparing to a TV show, but this sort of thing happens all the time in our society.  The same crime is committed but in a million different situations.  Is is just to punish all of the offenders the same way because they all committed the same crime?  Should society only get justice for the victim, regardless of what the offender receives for punishment, or should society look at what is in the best interest of the offender as well?  I believe there should be justice for both parties, but to go off of one set of rules or laws for every crime and situation would not be just for either group. 

First Impressions

Most people today judge others by their first impressions.  Take for example, a job interview.  If two people are interviewing for the same job, and one of them shows up to the interview wearing sweatpants and an old Hawkeyes' sweatshirt while the other one comes in a freshly pressed business suit, it's a no brainer which one will land the job.  The person in sweats could have been the more qualified of the two and had a great personality, but because of his/her appearance, the interviewer passed them by.  The same can be said in all walks of life.  When people see a person dressed all in black, they might think "Goth" or "Emo".  When a teenage boy dresses like a skater: tight jeans, a colorful T and over-sized sneakers, they might think, "Slacker" or "Pot-Head".  And when a female college student walks down the street with blond hair, buckle jeans, and newly purchased Ugg boots, people might think, "Prep", "Rich White Girl", "Snob".  These are common stereotypes everyone can recognize, but that's exactly what they are: Stereotypes.  I'm sorry to admit that when I walked into the prison, I came with stereotypes already playing out in my head.  I expected to see women, locked behind bars, screaming crude things as we passed them by.  I expected to see mostly minority groups, specifically blacks and Hispanics.  I expected to see women in their twenties, thirties, and forties.  I expected an unpleasant atmosphere.        
     Needless to say all of my stereotypes were wrong.  The only women I heard yelling were women hollering at their friends saying there were going to lunch.  Almost every woman we passed said "hi" or "how are you".  Every door we walked through was being held open by a friendly face.  As far as I could see, there were as many white women as their were women belonging to different minority groups, if not more.  I saw women of all ages, spanning from late teens to early twenties, all the up to women in their late sixties.  And the atmosphere was pleasant.  I did not feel scared or frightened, I did not feel awkward or embarrassed.  While many of the buildings were shabby and forlorn, the women were extremely nice and inviting.  This experience taught me the importance of pushing past known stereotypes in order to see what a person is really like.  Although we did not get to talk to any women individually, I am convinced that when I do speak one on one with a woman behind bars, I will see more similarities between us than differences.