What is justice?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/13/bootcamp.death.ap/
Now, we are not talking about the cream of the crop here. Stealing a car from your Grandmother is pretty low. Still, there are worse people on earth...and regardless of your crime, that does not remove your worth as a person. Okay, sometimes it does. I am sure very few Serbs are mourning the passing within days of Slobodon and his henchman. Regardless, this kid was on a path that could only end badly.
Doesn't matter. How he died is raising some interesting questions. How sick does this paragraph make you?

"A videotape later released to the media shows that after he stopped the exercises he was struck, kicked and dragged by several guards." Now, many reports say he stopped the exercise when he collapsed. Even if he was just being obstinate, this sounds bad to me.
Now, let me go on record here as being a fan of the boot-camp style correctional facilities. Statistics seem to bear out their effectiveness in actually rehabilitating a high rate of their participants. The recidivism rates of Boot Camp participants are much lower than for the general criminal population. The cynic might say yeah, that's because they beat people to death...but I think that is just me trying for a cheap laugh. Yeah, I know...what decent human being finds death funny? Well, I ask you a question...who said I was decent? Or, for that matter that I was human? After the run of spork jokes last week, some people questioned both...
However, with that said, and acknowledging that he people they watch over are theoretically all criminals, that does not justify this behavior. Regardless of what the autopsy shows there need to be charges filed. The main thing the autopsy will show is whether those charges are for assault and battery or for murder. How much you want to bet some sideshow gets fired to pacify the populace while the real criminals get off scot-free? Doubtless even now many people are scrambling to justify the behavior of the guards. Nice. You do realize the dead kid was 14, right?
Sadly, in another item that fell off the list before I could link it, lots of other nonsense is going on. Such as accusing the Attorney General of being racist because he might allow a 2nd autopsy to confirm the results of the first one instead of contradicting it.
Now, I admit the evidence, on the surface, as evidence often does, looks pretty bad. However...benign? Larry Mormon, my foster brother, had it...and far from benign, it was a primary cause of his death. There were mitigating factors, but it was hardly benign.
I SUSPECT they will find he died from the beating. But I reserve the right to be wrong. However, the accusations flying around before any evidence is in puts Ober in an interesting place. If the evidence shows the kid died of sickle cell anemia, putting forth the truth makes him a racist. No other option exists for the people involved. Not that Jackson or Cochran carry a lot of credibility in my mind...Jackson has long reminded me of another celebrity also known by his last name Jackson and Cochran...well, his OJ defense was talented, effective, and in my eyes highly ethically questionable. Good lawyer, in other words.
THis is a tragic situation. A young man is dead, any hope of him being rehabilitated is gone. Even if he wasn't rehabilitated, his chance to make his own choices, right or wrong is gone. And that is sad. Criminals who beat a kid will probably avoid any real punishment because they are cops, after all. And an already tragic situation is becoming a circus that will do nothing to solve the racism issues we do have in this country but will instead widen the gap.