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Debate about criminal justice often includes discussion of principles, theories, and generalities. These have their place, but if we rely on them divorced from common sense, we invite tragedy. Specific cases inject a dose of reality into the discussion and remind us that the lives of innocent people hang in the balance.
Crime Victims United exists not because there is violent crime, but because, too often, there is a failure of justice after a violent crime - a failure that results from a lack of respect for the victim or from a justice system that has forgotten about justice. Many of the members of Crime Victims United came to the group because the injury of violent crime was compounded by the insult of injustice.
Here is a small sample of the many cases that illustrate a justice system in which justice has gotten lost in the shuffle.