There is one phrase, without fail, that makes me absolutely cringe every time I hear it.
From the putzy armchair judges on social media to commentators who’ve never been closer to the legal system than a Law & Order rerun or Nancy Grace in her screeching, ear-splitting glory, it’s the same old verbal excrement that I would never be sad if I never heard it ever again:
“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
I think these people believe it sounds tough, or they’re incredibly misguided and they think it sounds “fair.”
Kind of like “whoever smelt it, dealt it.”
But I’m here to tell you, it is one of the most ignorant and misguided things you can say about the American criminal legal system.
It does not make you sound ethical or smart. Instead, you sound like someone who hasn’t been paying attention.
Tell me you know nothing about the way things work without telling me you know nothing about the way things work.
Because let me be Crystal Pepsi clear: that phrase only makes sense in a world where laws are enforced fairly, people are prosecuted based on evidence rather than political gain, and judges apply sentencing guidelines without bias.
We DO NOT live in that world.
The System Is Not Fair. It’s Rigged.
The criminal legal system isn’t a neutral referee; it’s a battlefield where the deck is stacked from the start. Here’s what you’re really up against:
1. Police Don’t Just “Enforce the Law.”
Police discretion plays a huge role in who gets arrested and who doesn’t. Entire neighborhoods are over-policed while others get a blind eye.
Ever wonder why poor neighborhoods and communities have so many more arrests? Because police go there believing “that’s where the crime is.”
…Like it doesn’t happen in wealthy neighborhoods; give me a break.
Whether you’re stopped, searched, or charged can come down to your zip code, your skin color, or whether a cop is having a bad day.
And forget the idea that the police will only arrest you if you’ve done something wrong. Cops can and often do, lie.
They withhold body cam footage.
They falsely arrest people for exercising their constitutional rights and act as muscle for arrogant judges who can’t stand to be proven wrong.
Prosecutors and cops coach witnesses.
And in a case emerging out of Barry County, Michigan, cops coerce parents to hand over their minor children’s cell phones when they have zero leads, potentially opening them up to criminal charges for content unrelated to their investigation.
And yes, they arrest innocent people all. the. TIME.
Across Michigan, Resisting and Obstructing charges are over-used by police and prosecutors; the law is too broadly written, because just disagreeing with a cop can be considered R&O.
2. Prosecutors Play to Win—Not to Find the Truth.
The job of a prosecutor should be to seek justice. But in reality, many are more focused on securing convictions to boost their careers. They use threats, inflated charges, and plea bargains to force people, ESPECIALLY poor people, to take deals for crimes they didn’t commit just to avoid a worse fate.
If you think justice is a fair fight in court, you’ve never seen a public defender with 200 cases go up against a prosecutor with unlimited resources.
3. Judges Are NOT Impartial.
We grow up believing judges are neutral and wise. The truth? Judges come with their own political agendas, personal vendettas, and unconscious biases.
They routinely approve shoddy warrants, ignore prosecutorial misconduct, and impose wildly inconsistent sentences based on things like race, socioeconomic status, or media attention.
Take a look at some of the most recent stories I’ve covered, such as Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig, deemed “unsafe to practice” and still sitting on the bench. In what other profession can you be found “unsafe to practice” and still go to work, collect a pension, and have unlimited power?
I’ve also documented and witnessed judges like Barry County’s Judge Michael Schipper sentence a wealthy person to 6 months in JAIL and a person who needed a public defender 15 years in PRISON—for the same offense. Their public defenders are not independent, honest brokers, by the way; they are contracted and paid by the county rather.
GTFO of here with “If you can’t do the time”?
What time? Whose time?
Why does one person’s time matter more if they have money?
How much would YOUR time be worth?
“Doing the Crime” Doesn’t Mean You Deserve the Time
States pay for prosecutions on three sides: cops, courts, and prosecutors. So tell me again the deck isn’t stacked and that justice is “fair” and I will tell you outright, you’re diluted.
Even if someone did commit a crime, that doesn’t automatically justify what happens next.
Doesn’t an “eye for an eye” make the whole world blind?
Should a person caught with weed really lose their kids forever?
Should someone stealing food to feed their family really get buried under mandatory minimums?
Should a teenager making one dumb decision be branded a felon for life or thrown away entirely?
The idea that punishment should be automatic and merciless isn’t justice. It’s retribution in trashy lipstick dressed up as morality. And it ignores the fact that the system doesn’t treat everyone the same.
What We Should Say Instead
We need to stop parroting slogans, and start asking questions:
- Why are certain communities targeted more than others?
- Why are judges allowed to overstep sentencing guidelines with no consequences?
- Why does the system spend more on jails than schools, housing, or mental health care?
Instead of spouting that “If you can’t do the time,” warn out nonsense at me, how about you start exercising your grey matter, and say this:
“If you can’t guarantee justice, stop pretending this is about fairness.”
Final Thoughts
Anyone who says “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime” is telling on themselves. They’re either out of touch, privileged or powerful enough to never have to worry about it, or willfully ignorant of the real machinery of American injustice.
That phrase is a shield of ignorance, enabling people to disassociate from the absolute horrors we have created in the system; to avoid dealing with how broken the system truly is.
Justice isn’t a bumper sticker. And it’s damn sure not a slogan.
It’s something America is failing spectacularly at and it needs to change.
