What is true justice? That question arises concerning a couple of stories that made front-page news in The Herald recently.

1. A blind horse is tortured and killed in a field. Outraged people donate money to boost a reward to catch the fiends. But what should be the punishment for people perpetrating such a heinous crime?

2. An 18-year-old Brandon Lee Hall and two others allegedly burglarize a home in Sharon, stealing three rifles. They are arrested shortly after the act, but the charges are dropped against the young man so he can join the Army. This infuriates the victim of the burglary.

While emotions play a huge role for everyone as we look at crimes, judges often have to put aside that emotion and determine what is the best ruling for the good of society as a whole.

In the case of the Sharon burglar, the District Attorney’s office had to decide whether to try the case and possibly put Hall in jail, or dismiss the charges without prejudice and allow him to join the Army. If he were found guilty of the crime, he would not be eligible for the service.

The victim, Daniel Gerda, railed against the ruling. He was incensed that Hall was getting off and not going to trial for the crime.

However, the county officials made the right decision in this case. It is not the first time that courts have allowed young offenders to enlist in the service after committing a crime. That’s because in many cases the military provides the discipline for offenders to mature and develop eventually into upstanding adults.

If you send a young man or woman to jail, does that really help them? Or does that sometimes make them even more of a hardened criminal?

We leave that for the psychologists to debate, but in this case giving a young person a chance to change is a good decision. And, as District Attorney Robert Kochems pointed out, if Hall would be re-arrested for something, the charges could be refiled anytime in the next 5 years.

With the money he’ll make in the service, Hall will be able to make restitution for damages at the Gerda home and other costs. We can only hope that the military rehabilitates the young man.

The case of the brutal killing of a blind horse in Shenango Township stirred a lot of emotion for everyone. No one likes to see the abuse of animals, but it this case it was the worst kind of abuse that anyone could imagine.

Outraged people have donated more than $6,000 already for a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. You don’t usually get that kind of reward money when trying to catch murderers.

Most of us would love to see the heartless perpetrators caught, tortured and hung by the neck until dead. And if you consider the fear and anguish that blind horse endured during the attack, maybe even that form of punishment would not be enough to satisfy many animal lovers.

Yet, that goes against how society looks at these crimes. And if the criminals are caught and convicted, the punishment would be dictated by court guidelines and would never be severe enough to appease the average person.

So what is true justice? Maybe there really isn’t such a thing in everyone’s eyes since justice is what our judges decide it to be according to the written laws. Those of us on the outside weigh cases on emotion, which doesn’t overrule law.