The French riots: A higher calling for the courts / International Herald Tribune, 22 Nov 2005

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/22/opinion/edsokol.php
"With French judges having been working overtime to convict, and in some cases deport, the troublemakers who were recently burning cars and sacking property, it is worth recalling a more positive use of a judicial system. The role of judges need not be limited to punishment. Courts assume a more constructive social role when they act to redress wrongs and relieve grievances. They can be a safety valve, serving to channel and ease some of the pent-up pressures that exist in every society."