"...criminals would roam free and innocents would be lynched." Before I address this common argument for a government Justice monopoly, first allow me to give my own definition of Due Process: a standardized method for determining guilt and punishing offenders according to law. This process is enforced by governments and the applicable laws are written by governments.
Critics of Freedom like to point out that without Due Process there would be injustice in the world. Some criminals would never answer for their crimes. Some innocents would be wrongfully punished. This is absolutely true, and I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that a Free Market in Justice would solve this issue completely. We also hear stories about a time before there was the concept of Due Process, when a ruler could arbitrarily decide who would be punished and how severely. This is also true, but is Due Process really the antidote for this Tyranny? Let's assume, for a moment, that a government is capable of providing a perfect legal system of Due Process. Everyone who violates a law is held accountable. Everyone who doesn't violate a law goes free. No mistakes. That's Justice, right? Well, not really. For that "perfect" system to be truly just, you would have to make a very outlandish assumption: the laws that we are judged by are themselves just. Let me put this another way: what's the point of fair treatment under the law if the laws do not accurately identify criminal behavior? For example, if I were to invite some friends to my home for a low-stakes game of poker, I would be in violation of an unjust law. Under Due Process, police officers can legally kick down my door and kidnap everyone in the room. Even though I violated the law, and the officers acted completely within the law, was justice served? What was the bigger threat to society --- my illegal poker game or the legal home invasion? Since most libertarians would agree that the overwhelming majority of current laws are unjust, what we actually get with Due Process is INJUSTICE ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE. A fair trial is meaningless if you can be convicted of violating laws that shouldn't exist. Even worse, a fair trial gives the ILLUSION that justice has been served, which helps to perpetuate this destructive process. Besides systematically punishing the innocent, Due Process also provides protection for real criminals. Think about the police officer who spends his nights assaulting and kidnapping peaceful people, or the soldier whose profession is to commit murder on command. Because these career criminals are acting in accordance with the law, Due Process actually shields them from justice. As you can see, Due Process has nothing to do with real Justice; it is a powerful tool for Injustice. Like all government attempts at Central Planning, it has backfired in a catastrophic way and has achieved exactly the opposite of its intended purpose. ---Sasan
