Pastor Fred W. Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church has it all wrong.
Young men that are fighting in foreign wars are not dying because the country allowed “fags” into the military. They are dying because that is what happens in war. Catholics are not “satanic”, its past has a straight line connection to Jesus Christ. (I am Catholic and it is my chosen religion). Divorced parents do not teach their children by their action to “defy [their] creator.” There can be no love for Hitler or breast cancer even though Pastor Phelps and his followers have said so verbally and in writing.
But, Evelyn Beatrice Hall has it right (or Votaire, or Paine or who ever else you may attribute it to). To paraphrase her, I disagree to the point of disgust with what Phelps says, but he does have the right to say it.
Albert Snyder, on the other side of the argument, believes that Phelps should not be able to say what he does because it caused him emotional distress.
He is the father of Lance Cpl. Mathew A. Snyder, 20, who died in a Humvee accident in Iraq on March 3, 2006. A week later, a funeral mass was held for him at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Westminster, Maryland. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas protested the funeral with signs that said all the things listed above and more. It was a cruel and obscene way for the congregation to express its political and religious beliefs. Later, an essay was posted on line by Phelps’ daughter continuing the cruel expression of their beliefs, mostly against Lance Cpl. Snyder.
Albert Snyder admits that he didn’t see the protesters at the church or at the grave site where his son was buried. It wasn’t until much later that he was on line and discovered the essay about his son. He then sued the pastor and the church for the distress that they caused. A lower court ruled in Snyder’s favor, but an appeals court reversed. Snyder took the case to the Supreme Court. The court heard the oral arguments this week.
The protestors obeyed all the laws of Maryland. They kept their distance from the church and the grave site as outline by law. (They did this, because there are limits on free speech, as with any right. The grave site was a public sitting and could be argued that they had a right to be on site during the funeral, but stayed off the property. But, please do not take this as being understanding of the protesters.)
Snyder didn’t see the protesters at any time. There was no physical or financial harm done to Snyder. His oral argument in court was focused on the emotional harm that was done by reading the things the church sponsored. After reading much of the material, it is not difficult to understand Snyder’s pain.
As truly whacky and indefensible as Pastor Fred W. Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church are, they do have the right to express their political and religious beliefs. They didn’t cause any practical damage to Snyder and by obeying the laws of Maryland on protests they didn’t interfere with the safety and order of the community.
To return to Hall’s quote, it would be difficult for the Supreme Court to rule any other way other then expressing their disgust with the church even though they support their right to say it.
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Responsible Community Working Together in Shared Responsibility.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Let's seek justice in our need for closure
It is being proposed by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy that new evidence that may free a convicted criminal in Michigan be presented before the one year anniversary of the conviction. After that, a claim can not be filed if the exculpatory evidence would have been discovered if the convict’s lawyer had done a good job.
Ask Dwayne Provience what this would have meant to him. He was convicted in 2001 of killing Rene Hunter on a crowded intersection in northwest Detroit. There where plenty of witnesses at the time of the shooting. One of the witnesses was an off duty police officer. None of the witnesses were called by Provience’s lawyer, who has since been disbarred. A memo in police files that pointed to a drug gang as the likely killers wasn’t discovered until 8 years later, then only by accident.
It is an arguable point that even if the new rules were in place a court would still consider the new evidence. But, for some people who trust their lawyers but find they do a terrible job, the rule changes would cancel all hope.
Worthy’s argument is that our system of justice needs finality. When someone is convicted, the public needs to have closure on the issue. She also argues that by allowing appeals to extend into the future endlessly, it pulls resources away from current cases.
Worthy is right about the need for finality. If the appeals are based on procedure instead of evidence, a one year cut off could be appropriate. After examining the proceedings of any case for a year, we should be certain about the conviction. This would save valuable resources for current cases, especially when budgets are stressed because of an economic down turn.
New exculpatory evidence should be treated differently, even after many years. If the evidence is minor and doesn’t challenge any of the other evidence or circumstances, a quick examination would dispense with it. In the case of Provience, when the witnesses and evidence never came to light in court because of a bad lawyer, to continue to hold him without a close look would be a crime in itself.
Yes, the community needs finality about specific convictions. The closure that a conviction brings provides relief to the grieving and security to the rest of us. But, by allowing a case to be challenged with new evidence also gives us the certainty that if we as a community do happen to make a mistake we can correct it.
This is justice.
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Ask Dwayne Provience what this would have meant to him. He was convicted in 2001 of killing Rene Hunter on a crowded intersection in northwest Detroit. There where plenty of witnesses at the time of the shooting. One of the witnesses was an off duty police officer. None of the witnesses were called by Provience’s lawyer, who has since been disbarred. A memo in police files that pointed to a drug gang as the likely killers wasn’t discovered until 8 years later, then only by accident.
It is an arguable point that even if the new rules were in place a court would still consider the new evidence. But, for some people who trust their lawyers but find they do a terrible job, the rule changes would cancel all hope.
Worthy’s argument is that our system of justice needs finality. When someone is convicted, the public needs to have closure on the issue. She also argues that by allowing appeals to extend into the future endlessly, it pulls resources away from current cases.
Worthy is right about the need for finality. If the appeals are based on procedure instead of evidence, a one year cut off could be appropriate. After examining the proceedings of any case for a year, we should be certain about the conviction. This would save valuable resources for current cases, especially when budgets are stressed because of an economic down turn.
New exculpatory evidence should be treated differently, even after many years. If the evidence is minor and doesn’t challenge any of the other evidence or circumstances, a quick examination would dispense with it. In the case of Provience, when the witnesses and evidence never came to light in court because of a bad lawyer, to continue to hold him without a close look would be a crime in itself.
Yes, the community needs finality about specific convictions. The closure that a conviction brings provides relief to the grieving and security to the rest of us. But, by allowing a case to be challenged with new evidence also gives us the certainty that if we as a community do happen to make a mistake we can correct it.
This is justice.
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Monday, October 4, 2010
The community must accept people for what they are
Last week, New York policed pulled the body of Tyler Clementi out of the water. A few days before, he had committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Clementi was a student at Rutgers University. His roommate secretly taped an intimate encounter Clementi had with another male. His roommate then posted the tape on YouTube for the world to see. Clementi had been outed without his consent.
Tyler Clementi was someone who had a lot to contribute to the community. He was accepted in one of the toughest academic schools in the country. He was an accomplished violin player that held a lot of promise for the future.
The discussion on line and in the media has been about the violation of Clementi’s privacy. He had asked his roommate, Dharun Ravi, if he could be alone in the dorm room one evening until midnight. Ravi agreed, but didn’t tell Clementi that he had left his camera on in the room to tape the activity that took place. Ravi went to his friend’s room, Molly Wei, and started taping. After, the pair tweeted about the video and posted it on line. This is clearly a violation of Clementi’s privacy because he had requested the time alone and Ravi agreed.
But, that there something more fundamental about this story that is being over looked.
In the United States we vilify gays politically, socially and culturally. We leave little room for those that are gay to find any peace with their nature. Even the strongest and most confident gay individual who is out can find difficulty in many situations.
Straight individuals rarely find their sexual preference an issue. When they do, sexual harassment laws protect them in their job, housing and in other situations they may find themselves in. Gay’s do not receive the same universal protection.
Culturally and socially, where attitudes are out of the reach of laws, gays find themselves as close to evil as can be. They are harassed and bullied into submission, to the point that they stay closeted. Many stay in the closet for years if not a life time for fear of being shunned by the world around them.
It is no wonder that Clementi found himself in a trap that he could find no way out. Not knowing enough about him and the environment he lived in it is difficult to place blame. He was, though, an individual that only needed a little push to fall off the edge. Perhaps, family, friends, roommates and others in the world around him failed him in varying degrees.
But, culturally, we must also accept some of the blame. We must treat all people with respect and accept them based on their contribution to the community. If not, there will be more Clementi’s.
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Tyler Clementi was someone who had a lot to contribute to the community. He was accepted in one of the toughest academic schools in the country. He was an accomplished violin player that held a lot of promise for the future.
The discussion on line and in the media has been about the violation of Clementi’s privacy. He had asked his roommate, Dharun Ravi, if he could be alone in the dorm room one evening until midnight. Ravi agreed, but didn’t tell Clementi that he had left his camera on in the room to tape the activity that took place. Ravi went to his friend’s room, Molly Wei, and started taping. After, the pair tweeted about the video and posted it on line. This is clearly a violation of Clementi’s privacy because he had requested the time alone and Ravi agreed.
But, that there something more fundamental about this story that is being over looked.
In the United States we vilify gays politically, socially and culturally. We leave little room for those that are gay to find any peace with their nature. Even the strongest and most confident gay individual who is out can find difficulty in many situations.
Straight individuals rarely find their sexual preference an issue. When they do, sexual harassment laws protect them in their job, housing and in other situations they may find themselves in. Gay’s do not receive the same universal protection.
Culturally and socially, where attitudes are out of the reach of laws, gays find themselves as close to evil as can be. They are harassed and bullied into submission, to the point that they stay closeted. Many stay in the closet for years if not a life time for fear of being shunned by the world around them.
It is no wonder that Clementi found himself in a trap that he could find no way out. Not knowing enough about him and the environment he lived in it is difficult to place blame. He was, though, an individual that only needed a little push to fall off the edge. Perhaps, family, friends, roommates and others in the world around him failed him in varying degrees.
But, culturally, we must also accept some of the blame. We must treat all people with respect and accept them based on their contribution to the community. If not, there will be more Clementi’s.
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Friday, October 1, 2010
A Big Good can turn a life around
One to overcome anger and a bad circumstance is to do a “big good” in the community.
A former Black Panther leader in Kansas City, Pete O’Neal, is living in exile in Tanzania. He was arrested 38 years ago in the United States for carrying a gun across state borders. Using a fake passport, O’Neal and his wife jumped bail and went to Sweden, eventually settling in a small town in Tanzania. He was allowed to stay if he kept out of trouble.
Over the years O’Neal not only stayed out of trouble, he did some good. He built a community in his exiled land and became a local “elder” or Mzee, a position of honor. Arriving with nothing, O’Neal has built a community center, teaches children, assists disadvantaged children and has adopted children that would have no place else to go.
All of this has made him a peaceful man. He has shed his belligerent fervor in exchange for a devotion to the community.
There is little doubt that if O’Neal hadn’t turned his life around, life would have been much different. The members of the Black Panther Party considered themselves at war with the United States. Many of the activities they sponsored were criminal. Although O’Neal’s crime of carry guns across state lines would be legal if the Republican’s and the NRA had their way in congress (and supported by the Responsible Community), there is a good chance that violence would eventually have put him in jail for a long time, or O’Neal would have been killed at a young age.
Mzee Pete O’Neal though, has found a secret to the improvement of life in the community without looking for it. It is, if you see wrong, fix it without hurting anyone. In a reverse turn of a phrase that is thought of as a popular African saying, “To support a community it takes an individual.”
Communities depend on the support of individuals. It is responsible people doing what is best for themselves, their families and their communities. O’Neal, now a responsible individual, has healed his belligerent soul by doing a big good in his new found community.
Everyone benefits from such action.
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A former Black Panther leader in Kansas City, Pete O’Neal, is living in exile in Tanzania. He was arrested 38 years ago in the United States for carrying a gun across state borders. Using a fake passport, O’Neal and his wife jumped bail and went to Sweden, eventually settling in a small town in Tanzania. He was allowed to stay if he kept out of trouble.
Over the years O’Neal not only stayed out of trouble, he did some good. He built a community in his exiled land and became a local “elder” or Mzee, a position of honor. Arriving with nothing, O’Neal has built a community center, teaches children, assists disadvantaged children and has adopted children that would have no place else to go.
All of this has made him a peaceful man. He has shed his belligerent fervor in exchange for a devotion to the community.
There is little doubt that if O’Neal hadn’t turned his life around, life would have been much different. The members of the Black Panther Party considered themselves at war with the United States. Many of the activities they sponsored were criminal. Although O’Neal’s crime of carry guns across state lines would be legal if the Republican’s and the NRA had their way in congress (and supported by the Responsible Community), there is a good chance that violence would eventually have put him in jail for a long time, or O’Neal would have been killed at a young age.
Mzee Pete O’Neal though, has found a secret to the improvement of life in the community without looking for it. It is, if you see wrong, fix it without hurting anyone. In a reverse turn of a phrase that is thought of as a popular African saying, “To support a community it takes an individual.”
Communities depend on the support of individuals. It is responsible people doing what is best for themselves, their families and their communities. O’Neal, now a responsible individual, has healed his belligerent soul by doing a big good in his new found community.
Everyone benefits from such action.
-----
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Religious freedom and Holly's zoning laws
If a zoning law will not allow a church to be established because of most any other reason other than it is a church, than it should receive the support of the community. But in Holly Township, a local zoning law states that a church specifically can not be established in a commercial district. Now a church that is in a commercial district is appealing the law, as they should.
Pastor James Disbrow and his Carpenter’s House Church have less than a year before he and his congregation is to be evicted from their current location. It is housed in a building in an area that Holly Township has designated to be used for commercial purposes only. If you go to Fish Lake and Grange Hall Road where the church is located, it would be difficult for you to tell what the location is zoned. It is mostly open land and very few buildings. There is no apparent reason why this church or any church would be risking the order and safety of the community.
But, no matter what the area is zoned, a house of worship of any kind has the right to be located most anywhere.
The Federal Council of Churches in Christ and the Foreign Missions Conference of North American adopted a position on the placement of churches throughout the world. The Foreign Missions Conference assists churches and missionaries in other parts of the world. Some of those places may not be as tolerate of religion as we are in the United States. In part, they state, that churches should be able to “acquire and hold property, for [religious purposes].” There doesn’t seem to be a good reason why a “church” specifically should be excluded from an area zoned commercial.
The only exception would be for the order and safety of the community because no right is absolute. Then, the community needs to have a clear reason to exclude a group like a church. Perhaps it would be because of traffic or large numbers of people attending an event at all the same time. To state that a church can not be placed in a specific area is like saying you can only have freedom of speech in some areas or you can’t own a gun in the city limits. (The Supreme Court recently struck down laws that ban gun ownership in cities across the country.)
Holly needs to review its current zoning laws to insure that religion is not impeded specifically because of religion. By banning churches from commercial areas the township is violating a basic right of an individual and a group, the freedom of religion.
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Pastor James Disbrow and his Carpenter’s House Church have less than a year before he and his congregation is to be evicted from their current location. It is housed in a building in an area that Holly Township has designated to be used for commercial purposes only. If you go to Fish Lake and Grange Hall Road where the church is located, it would be difficult for you to tell what the location is zoned. It is mostly open land and very few buildings. There is no apparent reason why this church or any church would be risking the order and safety of the community.
But, no matter what the area is zoned, a house of worship of any kind has the right to be located most anywhere.
The Federal Council of Churches in Christ and the Foreign Missions Conference of North American adopted a position on the placement of churches throughout the world. The Foreign Missions Conference assists churches and missionaries in other parts of the world. Some of those places may not be as tolerate of religion as we are in the United States. In part, they state, that churches should be able to “acquire and hold property, for [religious purposes].” There doesn’t seem to be a good reason why a “church” specifically should be excluded from an area zoned commercial.
The only exception would be for the order and safety of the community because no right is absolute. Then, the community needs to have a clear reason to exclude a group like a church. Perhaps it would be because of traffic or large numbers of people attending an event at all the same time. To state that a church can not be placed in a specific area is like saying you can only have freedom of speech in some areas or you can’t own a gun in the city limits. (The Supreme Court recently struck down laws that ban gun ownership in cities across the country.)
Holly needs to review its current zoning laws to insure that religion is not impeded specifically because of religion. By banning churches from commercial areas the township is violating a basic right of an individual and a group, the freedom of religion.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Government agencies do work for all of us
At the beginning of this country until even just 50 years ago, people knew where everything came from that they ate. The corn on the table in mid summer was from the farmer next door. The turkey at Thanksgiving was from the common woods on the outskirts of town where everyone hunted. The bread, if not made by the family, came from the local baker. He got the flour from the mill. The mill owner purchased (or traded) the wheat from the farmer across the street. Everything we ate came from just a few miles away. The food was fresh and not highly processed.
Everyone knew the wheat farmer, they knew the mill owner and they know the baker. All of them went to the same pub, square danced on Saturday nights and went to church on Sunday… sometimes twice. If anything went wrong with the food supply, everyone knew it. If the farmer found his wheat to be bad, he told people so they wouldn’t get sick. If he didn’t he would be seen in the pub, at the square dance and church on Sunday (maybe twice).
Thomas Jefferson, a farmer himself, wrote about the benefits of an agricultural society. When he and others like him came together for the second time to create a government, they didn’t see the need for a Food and Drug Administration. After all, why do we need a government agency to watch the food supply and for the most part, what are drugs?
Let’s jump forward 250 years to the present. Now, it is claimed by some, that government is taking control of our lives with agencies that tell us what to do and taking away our freedoms. One such agency is the Food and Drug Administration. It is partially tasked with watching our food supply to insure its safety both from natural born pathogens and poisons placed on or in them by processing. The agency occasionally gets something wrong, but for the most part, it works for the community’s benefit.
Ask why we need the agency and the answer is in the front page of the newspapers occasionally. Most recently is the Iowa egg producer, Wright County Egg and another company called Hillandale Farms. The owner, Austin J. DeCoster, said he would apologize to congress this week for the illnesses caused by the decades of bad eggs he released on to the market. The decisions that the owner and management of the company made were not made in the best interests of the community, only profit as he himself admitted.
He would have been tarred and feathered 250 years ago as described above. Everyone would have known where the eggs came from, if they had been sold at all. Placing responsibility and taking action would have been quick and clear.
The Food and Drug administration can not place all responsibility off on the farmer and the market. The administration's short comings will come to light and corrective action will be taken. But, the administration does make two very good points that need to be addressed.
First, the agency needs enough money to operate. It is becoming very common that government agencies that work for the benefit of the community are being under funded because of the anti-government fears that are being pushed by the small government commandos. They wax nostalgic when talking about the original intent of the county and how “massive” and “over bearing” government has become. By using Ronald Reagan’s tactics of underfunding government agencies if he couldn’t get rid of them, the agencies stay out of the way of businesses because they are not able to fully execute their function. This leads to less inspection and less long term legal work that is needed to end those companies that are consistently not in compliance.
Second, they need to provide the tools and weapons that are needed. In this case, the eggs were re-pact many times by suppliers. Nothing wrong with that, those companies that sell the eggs to the end user would like their names on the package, not Wright County Egg. (Seems that is a good decision in light of the bad pr that Wright is currently receiving) But, the eggs aren’t required to be sourced labeled. That means when people began to get sick from the bad eggs, health detectives had a more difficult time tracing the source back to Wright County Eggs. This not only delayed the reaction time to find the other bad eggs, it stalled all egg supplies from those producers that did a good job. More people became sick and more sales were lost. The effort to pass legislation to require source labeling has stalled many times in congress because of the industry lobbyists.
250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson and the other founders could not have conceived such a complex and wide spread market place that we have now. Since we are not able to personally know the people that produce our food today and see them on Sunday at church, we need a way to help keep the food supply safe. Since we didn’t form communities to still do everything for ourselves, agencies that work on our behalf is the best way to approach this problem.
Don’t fight government just for the sake of fighting government. There are some ways that we can reduce the size of government but don’t let it get in the way of safety.
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Everyone knew the wheat farmer, they knew the mill owner and they know the baker. All of them went to the same pub, square danced on Saturday nights and went to church on Sunday… sometimes twice. If anything went wrong with the food supply, everyone knew it. If the farmer found his wheat to be bad, he told people so they wouldn’t get sick. If he didn’t he would be seen in the pub, at the square dance and church on Sunday (maybe twice).
Thomas Jefferson, a farmer himself, wrote about the benefits of an agricultural society. When he and others like him came together for the second time to create a government, they didn’t see the need for a Food and Drug Administration. After all, why do we need a government agency to watch the food supply and for the most part, what are drugs?
Let’s jump forward 250 years to the present. Now, it is claimed by some, that government is taking control of our lives with agencies that tell us what to do and taking away our freedoms. One such agency is the Food and Drug Administration. It is partially tasked with watching our food supply to insure its safety both from natural born pathogens and poisons placed on or in them by processing. The agency occasionally gets something wrong, but for the most part, it works for the community’s benefit.
Ask why we need the agency and the answer is in the front page of the newspapers occasionally. Most recently is the Iowa egg producer, Wright County Egg and another company called Hillandale Farms. The owner, Austin J. DeCoster, said he would apologize to congress this week for the illnesses caused by the decades of bad eggs he released on to the market. The decisions that the owner and management of the company made were not made in the best interests of the community, only profit as he himself admitted.
He would have been tarred and feathered 250 years ago as described above. Everyone would have known where the eggs came from, if they had been sold at all. Placing responsibility and taking action would have been quick and clear.
The Food and Drug administration can not place all responsibility off on the farmer and the market. The administration's short comings will come to light and corrective action will be taken. But, the administration does make two very good points that need to be addressed.
First, the agency needs enough money to operate. It is becoming very common that government agencies that work for the benefit of the community are being under funded because of the anti-government fears that are being pushed by the small government commandos. They wax nostalgic when talking about the original intent of the county and how “massive” and “over bearing” government has become. By using Ronald Reagan’s tactics of underfunding government agencies if he couldn’t get rid of them, the agencies stay out of the way of businesses because they are not able to fully execute their function. This leads to less inspection and less long term legal work that is needed to end those companies that are consistently not in compliance.
Second, they need to provide the tools and weapons that are needed. In this case, the eggs were re-pact many times by suppliers. Nothing wrong with that, those companies that sell the eggs to the end user would like their names on the package, not Wright County Egg. (Seems that is a good decision in light of the bad pr that Wright is currently receiving) But, the eggs aren’t required to be sourced labeled. That means when people began to get sick from the bad eggs, health detectives had a more difficult time tracing the source back to Wright County Eggs. This not only delayed the reaction time to find the other bad eggs, it stalled all egg supplies from those producers that did a good job. More people became sick and more sales were lost. The effort to pass legislation to require source labeling has stalled many times in congress because of the industry lobbyists.
250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson and the other founders could not have conceived such a complex and wide spread market place that we have now. Since we are not able to personally know the people that produce our food today and see them on Sunday at church, we need a way to help keep the food supply safe. Since we didn’t form communities to still do everything for ourselves, agencies that work on our behalf is the best way to approach this problem.
Don’t fight government just for the sake of fighting government. There are some ways that we can reduce the size of government but don’t let it get in the way of safety.
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Monday, September 20, 2010
Individuals must do the responsible thing to make any law work
In Texas they have a law that children that attend a day care and are transported should not be left in the vehicle. It is called “Jacob’s Law” after a little boy four years ago died in a van after being left for many hours. Before you say, “duh” read on.
Just a few days ago it happen again.
Avonda Fox worked for many years to get the legislature in Texas to enact the law. Her drive was to do some good as a result of the loss of her son Jacob when he died in a hot day care van. Her son was left in the van in temperatures that was in triple digits in 2006. The owner of the day care facility told her employees to take the body to the park and not call 911. The owner only received two years in prison for her failure to take appropriate and responsible action.
It happen again in Plano, Texas. Police have released few details in the latest death. But, the child was left in the van at 9 in the morning and wasn’t discovered until 3 in the afternoon, when a child entering the van found him “asleep”.
Nothing, repeat, nothing will be able to replace the two lost children to their families. It was good that the law was enacted because apparently you can only get two years for such a thing.
But, no law, no matter how tough on the convicted can replace personal responsibility in situations like this. Was there no head count as children left the van? How about a last check after everyone is checked in? Was someone errant, or uncaring, to not remember?
Laws are meant to guide us in our actions and to provide punishment for those that don’t follow the law. Laws, no matter how well written, will only work if people take personal responsibility to do the right thing. One of the foundational planks of any community is individuals acting in a way that is best for themselves, their families and the community.
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Just a few days ago it happen again.
Avonda Fox worked for many years to get the legislature in Texas to enact the law. Her drive was to do some good as a result of the loss of her son Jacob when he died in a hot day care van. Her son was left in the van in temperatures that was in triple digits in 2006. The owner of the day care facility told her employees to take the body to the park and not call 911. The owner only received two years in prison for her failure to take appropriate and responsible action.
It happen again in Plano, Texas. Police have released few details in the latest death. But, the child was left in the van at 9 in the morning and wasn’t discovered until 3 in the afternoon, when a child entering the van found him “asleep”.
Nothing, repeat, nothing will be able to replace the two lost children to their families. It was good that the law was enacted because apparently you can only get two years for such a thing.
But, no law, no matter how tough on the convicted can replace personal responsibility in situations like this. Was there no head count as children left the van? How about a last check after everyone is checked in? Was someone errant, or uncaring, to not remember?
Laws are meant to guide us in our actions and to provide punishment for those that don’t follow the law. Laws, no matter how well written, will only work if people take personal responsibility to do the right thing. One of the foundational planks of any community is individuals acting in a way that is best for themselves, their families and the community.
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