Many of us hold judges and journalists of high esteem and they do certainly contribute to human evolution, but some of them have repeatedly contributed to gross injustices due to multiple factors, often due to unnecessary fear and sometimes due to greed and arrogance. History tends to under document the wrongs of journalists, but Historians and even journalists dangerously spare Judges and under discussing or under studying their contributions to vivid wrongs mean repetition, normalized oppression, or slower evolution for humankind.
We know how dangerous politicians are, how dangerously robot minded police are, how prosecutors can be obsessed with punishment, but when Judges refuse to think, suggest, or accept great suggestions, then judicial disasters often follow. We will lean on present wrongs, which low minds cannot often see, so we will discuss past wrongs in ‘how’ perspective to help people and the students of the mentioned professions may avoid repeating mistakes. The term ‘flight risk’ is virtually outdated due to affordable technology that Journalists refuse to promote, and instead they echo ‘flight risk’ to further mislead the ignorant masses? Editorials and special hours of Radio , Television, social media, etc can lead to the freedom of many and reduce state sins we can be culprits or even victims of. Electronic monitoring on pre-trial is much humane and just , and over eighty percent ‘flight risk’ claims can be eliminated within a year, in the u.s, Africa-wide and worldwide.
Numbers matter and investigative journalists must do a better job for the trying poor, blacks or minorities, and men. Ankle based electronic monitoring of ‘alleged criminals’ has been in the u.s to help mainly the rich, women, and whites to avoid prison until proven guilty? U.S journalists and government officials refuse to give us the numbers and types of people held under the disguise of ‘flight risk’? When a new phone, vehicle, television, etc comes out, African+ journalists can cover it , African governments and people can afford it with ease. When new justice oriented gadgets like electronic monitoring of pre-trial suspects, body cameras, etc exist, our journalists under report and under urge for its buying and utilising? Oops! We may be able to make them , not just buy them. It is essentially an alarm and phone like geographical positioning device in iron wearables? Take a ten dollar smart phone or fraction of it, program it, seal it in iron, etc and you have the gadget. Since some may cut their ankle for freedom according to u.s data or cowardly imagination about Africans, we can have ankle and neck wearables, but we must help on freeing the innocent and reducing weaponisation of the justice system against the poor, men, activists, or any group.
So let every media house have their editorials and special hours on it. Let us urge our governments to buy, but use the opposition parties to urge and help make the laws. Urge our business folks to help build the factories. Urge human rights organisation through data revealing and echoing. Urge foreign governments to donate such instead of, or more than they donate, firearms. Urge for international treaties to have very limited crimes and situations where the ‘flight risk’ excuse may be used. Since many criminals are often stupid, we can add secret camera, voice recorders, and many things that can help against real crimes, but help free the innocent until trials are held.
By documenting how each judge in every country refuse to offer electronic monitoring or use ‘flight risk’ on personal or low crimes, we will shame and even consider how to judicially confront some judges.
The bail system of many countries was unjustly commercialised, but can it be rightly commercialised? Rather than having bail amounts based on alleged crime, I think adding influence factor and percentage options can help. So rather than amounts that cannot change between inflations, the law should state ‘ten or xyz times the hourly of laborer, or ten or xyz percent of your worth, last tax year amounts, which ever is greater. The questionable rich may cry foul, but Justice is about effects than even intentions. If you simplistically choose only ‘small fines’ on misdemeanour, then what is thousand dollars to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, etc? By charging them five or xyz percent on misdemeanour, then charge fifteen or xyz percent on felony, plus jail times; the rich and the poor will feel proportionate effects. The extra money we gain through rich criminals should always be used to educate and redistribute where need be. When we charge based on average, those below average can also cry foul. So I rather have a system that pressures both the top and bottom, not just the bottom.
We can use groping as example: A u.s teenager reportedly used her phone to record a groping crime in a public aircraft and was awarded only about three hundred dollars, perhaps because the culprit was poor and the culprit was also to do twenty months of prison. Three hundred dollars may be less than one week pay in most u.s states, so I think it is too small as such restitution. If the law stated ‘restitution of groping’ should be about three to six months of average laborer in the state of the alleged crime, or ten to twenty percent of worth or last year’s income, which ever is greater, plus six to thirty months prison time. The law should further say, all restitutions above hundred thousand dollars or gross annual salary of laborer will forfeit the extra amount towards a special fund for sensitization, restitution adjustment for the poor and other good causes. This precisely means if Johnny Depp, Elon Musk, Epstein was caught groping Amber Heard or xyz, the system will collect millions or billions; hundred thousand or ten percent of it will go to Amber Heard or xyz; that special office will raise the teenager’s restitution from three hundred dollars to fifty or hundred thousand dollars; that office can buy one million dollars of body cameras to give to teenagers… if you report a crime as teenager, we will double your restitution; if you commit a crime like voluntary pornography as teenager, we will give you about fifty percent punishment for gambling the children and weak adults; if you commit crime as teenager and cry foul as adult, we may punish the adult but no restitution to double ‘robbers’…
Indeed the judiciary mindset of the alcoholics, the anti-marijuana, and pro- marijuana folks are very different. Imagine similar on child support, divorce or alimony, etc. The women+ they often consider as victims, but sometimes they are the criminals who refuse better systems to help poor victims? Are the culprits the gold digging women, their type of men, the feminist politicians, or those non thinking elite women in the house, senate, or supreme court who are less likely to be groped or can afford lawyers for big suing or get monitor-able gadgets where accused? Will the male or female journalists support which systems with efforts?
Due to time and space, we must briefly ask you how judges and journalists contributed to vivid wrongs like legal slavery, colonisation, apartheid, segregation, etc? The primary fuel was majority over minority mindset, but how fear contributed, and why journalists tend to repent before judges? Oh Jarga , that was centuries ago. Well decades ago, journalists and judges contributed to the war in Rwanda and how many crimes in the Gambia and beyond? Few years ago, supreme court judges contributed to destabilising of countries by allowing third terms in Ivory coast, Guinea Conakry, etc. The arresting of the guilty Judges in Guinea was indeed a good precedent and may have made it harder for Macky Sall of Senegal to find a Judge who may risk arrest… How did I forget how many journalists and judges contributed or still contributing to the jailing of marijuana folks around the world? Although God promised to re-judge what Judges misjudged or never judged, our responsibility to ‘exhort each other to truth…’ must include Judges, journalists, and beyond. So let your unions and media houses get to work. My God said: if I contribute even atom’s weight of good, including freeing the oppressed’ my pay is guaranteed and His bonuses are in generous ratios? So let Saudi Arabia and all countries stop using ‘flight risk’ as excuse to keep accused people crying. Let billions of body cameras be made and distributed around the world than vaccines and masks. Let money and pretty woman or women come close to me, asking my touch, but if they grope me, can I grope back, slap them, or just sue? Mo Ibrahim, Dangoteh, etc should give me million dollars or at least build factories for such gadgets and openly shame African governments that refuse to buy or allow its business. Imagine me advertising, ch. 103 of the constitution says if you can afford my $200 gadget, your loved one should not be in prison awaiting trial… How many Nigerians will come buy or thank me than their journalists? How many are in Nigerian Prisons under the guise of ‘flight risk’? If you do not know the figures and type of crimes for your country last year, then how good are your investigative journalists , judiciary statistics, etc? Your job is to help reduce crime and imagine how many innocent people my suggestions may help? May God bless us through Showlove Trinity: Let’s learn, let’s work, let’s have fun.
By Jarga Kebba Gigo
An Activist and Transformer
