In reality, however, the system in America today “provides massive safeguards for accused persons . . . yet fails to provide elementary protection for its law-abiding citizens,” said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger in a speech to the American Bar Association.

The reason for this vicious cycle is clearly pointed out by the Bible at Ecclesiastes 8:11: “Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad.” Speaking about the fight against “double-digit crime inflation,” Chief Justice Burger pointed out that “deterrence means speedy action by society,” but lamented that what we have is “an impotent society.”