The Law is the Law!

People use this phrase all of the time. The law is the law, no exceptions! However, we (myself included) tend to use this phrase when it's applied to something we like. For example, saying "In my opinion, God is a Faggot!" is protected by our freedom of speech. Or telling McDonald's to write HOT on the side of their coffee because otherwise we'd have no idea. These are times when the law can be used to our advantage.

But what about when the law is applied, nay twisted, into something we don't like. Take O.J. Simpson for example. He is on trial for murder, then is found not guilty despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He's released into the world a free man, only now wherever he goes he has a thought in the back of his head, "All of these people around me think I killed my ex-wife and Ron...Ron...what's his name?" (I don't know if O.J. didn't know Ron Goldman's last name, but he does seem like the type of guy to murder someone without really knowing the man.) He forever has the shadow of doubt cast upon him. He can't make any money, his dating life is incredibly more difficult, and even though a U.S. court found him innocent nobody else believes his story. (I'm 100% positive he did those two by the way) But do you see? By law he's innocent, but that's not how society treated him.

Another point, I went over to CNN.com the other day and found a great example of how the law works in our favor. A police department was forcing a Sex Offender to move out of his home so that he wouldn't violate the "At least 1000 yards away from a school" rule. Fantastic! Until I heard more about the man. See, he's bedridden. Dieing. He can't move without the aid of a walker, and even then it's not like he can run. He lives with his sister and her husband and they take care of him. So I started thinking, "Sure he's a perverted old man, but at what point are we all just beating up a perverted old man?" Let's face it, if you believe your kids would be in danger because if this man, then you need to take the kids to the park and spend a day teaching how to walk at a "brisk" pace. And during the video I saw a few interviews with the locals and I heard that phrase, "The law is the law". One lady said, "It don't matter if he's ill, he still has those urges and desires, so he should leave." Really? You know every once in a while I have the urge to drive over to Fox News Channel and smash Sean Hannities head in with a mallet, but I don't have the gas money or the resourcesto pin the murder on Alan Colmes. So does that mean if I were to stand trial for Hannitie's murder that I should be banned from cars and mallets forever? (I think I could get off of a murder charge for citing "Justifiable Cause")

Recently a man, who dies in jail years ago, was just found to be Not Guilty of rape and murder. Right now that man is somewhere thinking, "Great timing, assholes!" He had to live the rest of his life knowing that he was innocent, but everybody believed otherwise.

Let's try a scenario, you're 17 and you break into somebody's home and you take all of there liquor. The good stuff too, even the expensive whiskey that's twenty years old. You get caught and spend a couple of years in jail. When you get out you're changed. You don't even like alcohol anymore! But, every job you apply to sees that you've been a...GASP...delinquent!

Or this one. You're mugged! The man takes all the money and valuables you have on you. He gets caught and stands trial. After he serves his sentence, he's a free man, he's payed his debt to society. How do you feel now that he's back on the streets? Should he be watched? Monitored? Should he always have that on his record, possibly forever keeping him from getting a better job? Maybe one that payed him enough so he wouldn't have to resort to mugging?

My feeling about all of this is that the law IS the law, no doubt, but how far do we take that idea? If someone is found innocent of murder, doesn't that mean they didn't murder anyone no matter how much we wanted them to be the killer? And if a person IS found guilty of some crime and serve their sentence, then at what point do we allow them to have a complete "fresh" start and not just a conditional "We'll let you out only if you..."?

Our justice system is based on punishment and by no means do I think that should completely stop. But, after all of these cases of the law both succeeding and failing simultaneously for years now, isn't it time we tried a different approach? How about instead of the slammer for anyone who broke the law just enough to warrant the sentence, why not try and rehabilitate them? Let's take the money being spent on frivolous lawsuits and sending repeat offenders back to jail time and time again, and spend it on helping people who have committed a crime and help them to become productive members of society again? Spend our time and tax money helping those that have broken the law and instead of trying to find the most sever punishment for a crime so that hopefully "those people" will get the idea that they shouldn't break the law. Stop focusing so much on punishing and start focusing on fixing.

Maybe if we try this it might actually work! Maybe if criminals can be helped and return to society with a clean slate, then they'll want to help make it better? Not all, but some. Maybe it will only be 5% of the criminal population, but just imagine 5% more people out there who'll want to help instead of 5% more people who'll still want to mug, steal, and rape.

But no, that will probably never happen. Because some jerk just stole my good liquor! And I want them to throw the book at that asshole!