Jack Bauer and Civil Rights

It is very fitting for me to write about civil rights on MLK day. It is also very fitting for Fox to show the third and fourth episodes of 24's Season 8 today. You may not see the connection between 24 and civil rights, so allow me to explain. You see, we are stuck in an imperfect legal system. Jack Bauer is the solution to our problem.

One of the great paradoxes in the legal system is the dichotomy between accuracy and efficiency. Basically, the paradox is that you can't have both accuracy and efficiency at the same time. Why not? Flawed human beings conduct every aspect of the legal system--from the attorneys to the witnesses to the judge and jury. Teasing out inaccuracies takes time. In general, I think the legal system is improving. Technology has helped increase the accuracy of evidence in the court room. Also, civil rights in our country have improved markedly in the past few decades leading to less sociological inaccuracies. This has resulted in what I would argue is a more efficient and more accurate system. But accuracy and efficiency are still diametrically opposed to each other. We still struggle with an imperfect system of convicting people. I imagine people get wrongfully convicted all the time. You can't have both, . . . [pause for dramatic effect], you can't have both, unless you have Jack Bauer as the judge.

It would be very difficult indeed to watch a version of 24 with Jack Bauer as Mr. Proper Police guy. In fact, not only is it difficult to picture, it would be awkward, and downright annoying to see Jack Bauer go through with the formalities of the legal system to ensure the right person is being convicted. This is because Jack Bauer has that 6th sense. He's got the intuition that is so very accurate. We're OK with him not reciting Miranda rights to the bad guys. Jack can take a hatchet to someone's chest because it's clear they're guilty. With clenched teeth, he can take out a guard's jugular because that's what must be done. We're even OK with Jack approaching the torture line because he knows what's required for the information to come out.

How does this carry over into real life? Jack Bauer is the perfect ideal for combating injustice. As our intuition and knowledge of the real story becomes clear, the inefficiencies and inaccuracies in the legal system fade away. Jack shows us that there really isn't a paradox between accuracy and efficiency. You can have both.

In other news, Lucie is the new A.