The reason SBF isn't arrested is because the people who would have to order him to be arrested relate to him personally, and coddle people like him as they would wish to be coddled themselves.
The reason SBF isn't arrested is because the people who would have to order him to be arrested relate to him personally, and coddle people like him as they would wish to be coddled themselves.
Law enforcement should not act in bad ways to more people.
Faith in humanity? Sometimes shaky.
It easily could have cost you your job, then your apt, etc.
To a large extent (not completely) law enforcement and the greater justice system exist to mitigate contention in society. If the target of a law enforcement action is rich or famous, and the crime is not active or physically damaging, then it will be contentious to arrest the rich/famous criminal. If the criminal is not rich or famous, or if the crime is physical (murder, assault, etc) then the arrest will be less contentious, and the police will proceed.
Up until now, it has not been at all contentious for the police to arrest/abuse lower status persons.
In the case of a contentious arrest of a high status person, arrest will be delayed until the exact charges are known and believed to be provable.
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I am describing the system as I see it now, not the system that I think should exist.
The faults described here are not faults of individual members of any justice system, they are faults of society and we ascribe value.
Before replying to this comment, please think about policing in feudal societies and consider the lessons of Foucault in "Discipline and Punish".
I should point out that while this is unfortunate, this is all a relatively inevitable consequence of having a justice system. Since humans are deciding cases, there will always be a small chance that they screw it up (in one direction or another). You can't have arbitrary do-overs for people who feel their case was decided poorly, because everyone thinks that (or will say they do).
The closest I have experienced second-hand in authoritarian Cuba under Castro while I was visiting there, where I saw some residents arrested for nothing tangible, but they were released within 8 hours and they seemed blasé about it.
I have been arrested, but the police were respectful (it helps that I am a short white guy, and I was wearing a geek identity).
If you ever visit Christchurch, contact me via HN, and I'll feed and put you up for some days, if you're keen.
You've either been on the pointy end of the "justice" system, or you haven't. Paying "court fees" to directly fund the salaries of the people persecuting you is the icing on the cake.
And like, what happened to OP was pretty tame, all things considered. Nobody died. There wasn't months or years spent in prison. I don't think their life was drastically altered by it (but their personal world view certainly was). Nobody is going to the media with such a story, because it's not glaringly outrageous. Ask an attorney if OP would have a case against the police/state to rectify the injustice, and they'll just laugh. They're part of that system and above you, which is why even if you're paying them, they don't answer the phone after 5.
IMO the first step to reform happening is the system admitting it is fallible. Plea bargains should be drastically reformed - either make the case or STFU. When a victim is found innocent or charges are dropped, they should be mechanically compensated for all of their expenses and damages - legal fees, time lost in jail/court, emotional distress from the kidnapping. That money should come out of the coffers of the city paying the gang of violent thugs that abused OP, and ultimately the taxpayers funding them. If the cost of law enforcement ends up doubling, then the true cost of enforcing the laws was twice what was being paid - right now these damages are funded as a perverse reverse lottery where the unlucky just get stuck with them. This certainly won't fix everything, but correctly defining responsibility is the first step.
Alas, the disempowering mass media narrative we get is that the cops just need "more training" so perhaps they won't commit wanton second degree murder as much. Funny how the average citizen doesn't get a similar allowance.
Fact is: non-punk rockers merely get the right to become masters-of-the-universe revoked.
/s