if I had the chance…

If only I had the chance…

I would want to stand up in front of the appeal judges, all five of you,

You who have worked hard and (some probably through prejudice) but most definitely persistence, earned your place as judges at the appeal court in our fractured land,

In our land which cries every single day for the suffering of men and women and children who live side by side but still not understanding how to really live

And I would ask

do you know how important this opportunity is for you to look at the man in front of you

a disabled man,

a disabled man who once brought fame and pride to this land,

 

pride to you because you too are part of this land and you too want to find your place in this land and this life,

you, who understand justice and fairness and reasonableness and equality,

and about how it just is that sometimes the law rights the wrongs for some but not for others,

you who understands that punishment does not bring more remorse or bring back the dead,

No.

Punishment serves to deter more crime, it serves to remove and perhaps to rehabilitate the criminal mind.

Look at the crime around you.

Look hard at the crime all around you.

And now look at the man who stands before you.

Look at him standing.

He is barely standing.

You have the chance to make a difference to this man. You have the opportunity to speak your mind and ask the questions and then to reassess

The real crime

Please. Please don’t get caught up in the semantics and look for errors in elevating ‘regret’ to ‘remorse’?

And don’t forget that Johnson has also had to fight for her new place in her world

But you want to tell the world what’s ‘shockingly inappropriate’?

I think you know what’s shockingly inappropriate.

Disturbing and shockingly inappropriate.

I am left wondering,

What if all those judges not only one

Were women?

#morecompassion

#lesscorruption

DISCLAIMER: (According to the SCA’s court roll, judges “Bosielo JA, Sereti JA, Lamont AJA, Meyer AJA and Mokgohloa AJA” are expected to hear the case of the Gauteng director of public prosecutions versus Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius. I have not listened to live coverage or had the inclination to. Only snippets of media and online content. Written by all sorts of people. Men and women.I just feel strongly about all the craziness at the moment and I needed to get this out.