Have you ever thought how the law protects you? There are a lot of people across the country right now who feels as though the legal system is working against them, perhaps with good reason. Black Americans and ethnic minorities are statistically more likely to serve prison sentences compared to white Americans and an estimated ⅓ of people serving prison time are supposedly innocent. You would be forgiven for doubting the power of the law and whether or not it always works in your favor. But if you think about it, you’ll see that for the most part, the law is protecting you, your family and your rights. To examine this, we’ll look at some examples of the law in action.
Justice For Injuries
For the average American, the legal system is typically going to be used to ensure they get fair compensation for an injury. Every year, business owners are inundated with claims from workers who have been injured on the job. For instance, a worker might have slipped on a ladder that didn’t provide enough support and damaged their back. Or perhaps they were injured after being urged by an employer to lift something that was too heavy.
In cases like this, it’s important to know that you can take the employer to court and sue for damages. This is particularly crucial when the injury has been severe because usually, it affects their ability to work or their quality of life. As such, damages are often paid out in a structured settlement, whereby compensation is given when the claimant needs it the most. As you can see then, this is one of the cases where the law is on your side.
Protection Of Property
Did you know that you have the right to protect your property? Let’s say in the middle of the night someone breaks into your home. Immediately, this individual has broken the law even if the door was left open, they are breaking and entering. At this point, the individual is a threat to you, your family and your property. Legally, you can take action to protect these three things. That means you have the legal right to defend your home with force. There have been a number of cases in the media where people have protected their home with a weapon and injured the criminal. In other countries, homeowners have been forced to pay damages to the criminal. But here justice does win out.
Hate Crime
You might have caught the recent comeback of Dave Chappelle on Netflix. In one of the specials, he tells a story about how three youths hit him with snowballs while driving and used a racial slur against him. He was right in stating that an action like this is a felony and he could have ensured the youths were arrested for their crime. The law is there is to make sure that hate crimes are not tolerated and if there are witnesses cases like this are even more clear.
So, you might think that the law is constantly against you and it is certainly not as balanced as it should be. But it still does a lot to protect your rights and ensure justice is served, even in today’s tense political climate.
