A Time To Kill - Daniel Frederick

1. When determining whether or not Carl Lee Haley committed an act of justice, one must turn and interpret the definition of the term “justice”. According to the Oxford Dictionary, justice is defined as just behavior and treatment, with “just” referring to what is morally right and fair within society. The actions of Carl Lee Haley resulted in the death of two criminals who had immorally raped and abused his daughter, and while Carl Lee Haley committed this crime on the true basis that the justice system was biased and would not charge his daughter’s rapists, he did shoot and kill two individuals. Based on US Law, it is only justifiable to murder another person in self-defense if you fear for your life, or if it is to prevent a serious crime. In this case, the crime was already committed, and the criminals were in custody and posed no physical harm to Mr. Haley. Therefore, he did not commit an act of justice.
2. Carl Lee Haley commits this crime because, as stated above, he correctly believes that the judicial system will not charge his daughter’s rapists, and is so angered by this fact that he decides to take action into his own hands.
3. CLH should be charged with first degree murder because his actions were premeditated and he committed them willingly. The punishment for a first degree murder is life without parole, according to the law.
4. The scales of justice are not balanced in the southern state where CLH’s trial is located. It is a primarily white county, which implies a bias toward incriminating a Black defendant or by believing prior to the trial that the defendant is guilty. This skews the jury’s perception of the case at hand, making it more likely he will not receive a fair trial.
5. It does matter that Tanya Haley is Black, but ideally, it should not. The reason it matters why Tanya Haley is Black is because justice would not be present in the criminal case regarding her rape simply because of how little the white judge or jury would care for the wellbeing and livelihood. If race were not a factor in the legal system, or within people’s perception toward a legal case, it would not matter whether a victim is Black or white.
6. As stated in question four, Carl Lee Haley does not receive due process, or fair treatment through the normal judicial system because both the judge and the jury were inherently biased against CLH on the basis of his race.