Sirius Black-What a Guy!

[alhewison]

No: HPFGUIDX 44296

 
> Carol writes re Sirius and taking matters into his own hands:-

Depends on your idea of justice.  Some people would say that justice 
is getting what you deserve.  That does not necessarily mean that you 
go to court and get tried.

Christy writes:-

> Actually, as a soon to be law student, that last part is -exactly- 
how I  define justice.  It is how I would hope the rest of society 
would define justice also.  The only other type of justice that comes 
to mind is vigilante justice, which is exactly what Black is 
endorsing here.  I shudder to think  what the world would be like if 
everyone took legal matters into their own  hands.  There is a reason 
why we have a defined court system today.  Simply  because someone 
has been wronged does not give that person the right to take  the 
matter into their own hands.  I am sorry, but if Black had killed 
Peter in that shack, he would have been no better than Peter, in my 
eyes.  

As a former law student (I've got a law degree), I agree with your 
concept of how justice should work. As a cynic, however, I don't 
think that due legal process always works that way. I would have to 
point out that Sirius has been badly let down by the WW justice 
system. I think he can be forgiven for thinking the only way forward 
is to take matters into his own hands.

Would you really believe in WW justice if you had been locked up for 
12 years for a crime that you did not commit? Sirius did not even 
have a trial - yet a few times JKR uses the word "convict" 
or "convicted". Are we supposed to understand that Sirius was tried-
in-absentia or that he was flung into Azkaban without trial? Either 
way, Sirius has been unfairly imprisoned.

I certainly believe in "Justice". Ideally this should be applied 
through the Legal System. But what about when the legal system fails? 
Certainly our English system is far from infallible and we have had 
several high-profile miscarriages of justice. Now, I still believe in 
the Court system; I would just like it to be propped up a bit and 
improved. But, I haven't been a victim of our justice system. Sirius 
has of the WW. I think it would take a very strong person (Nelson 
Mandela springs to mind) to be such a victim and still be a supporter 
of the same fallible system afterwards.

As a theorist, I've always had very liberal beliefs on crime and 
punishment, but as soon as crimes have touched me personally I have 
felt quite differently. My objectivity went out of the window when my 
staff were "held up" in a bank raid, or when my husband's car was 
written off in a road-rage attack. I wanted to get those criminals 
and well... Of course, I don't believe in, and wouldn't advocate such 
natural justice. It was however, a genuine gut-reaction. Sirius has a 
genuine gut reaction to seeing the murderer of his friends, imflamed 
by his 12 year incarceration, and lack of obvious justice. If he had 
killed Pettigrew at this point, it would undoubtedly have been murder 
but would it have been understandable? IMO yes.

Ali