Life is full of fine lines.\u00a0 I am learning more and more about balancing the fine line of Justice.\u00a0 Now Justice is a very heavy subject that I am not yet prepared to debate or define.\u00a0 But I do have a perspective to share.<\/p>\n
Justice is normally thought of as \u201cin the favor of the victim\u201d; which I agree with wholeheartedly.\u00a0 But there is another component to it that I am exploring.\u00a0 I think there is also Justice with society in mind.\u00a0 Which favors society?\u00a0 Angry, vilified, dehumanized people trapped behind doors just waiting for the opportunity to get out and reoffend?\u00a0 Or humanized, rehabilitated members of society who understand choice; positive and negative?\u00a0 I would like to think that the second option is the best option.\u00a0 I also know that it is a Utopian ideal that is not necessarily realistic.\u00a0 But it is the possibility of creating change in just one person that will prevent one more victim.\u00a0 That is what interests me.\u00a0 But I also know too well that there are exceptions to every rule. \u00a0We are all human but there are at times limitations on how much a person can be rehabilitated.\u00a0 I feel the attempt, for the sake of all humanity, is what is ultimately important.<\/p>\n
In my family\u2019s case, the offenders were captured, put on trial and convicted in a pretty quick timeframe, within 8 months of my Dad\u2019s death.\u00a0 My Mom and the rest of the family have always been thankful for the quick resolution.\u00a0 But, for my Mom they were not only offenders, they were, and are, human beings.\u00a0 And that was how I was raised to think of them.\u00a0 At the time of my Dad\u2019s death there were many people in the community and in the family that thought that the death penalty may be a good option in our case.\u00a0 I completely understand the anger and the emotion.\u00a0 I just can\u2019t see it that way.\u00a0 I see that these young men had a future and possibilities with the right guidance.\u00a0 I see that they made bad choices, but they still had and have a choice.\u00a0 They can still make positive choices for others and themselves. \u00a0Their lives were not over at 19 and 21.\u00a0 If I have to find reason in what happened to my Dad I would like to hope that these men were stopped from much worse.\u00a0 And that they were put in prison on a path to rehabilitation and healing for themselves so that they might be able to help others. \u00a0No matter how long the journey is. \u00a0I know that this all sounds idealistic and most likely na\u00efve but I just know that I can\u2019t accept the alternative.\u00a0 How many choices have we all been from being in these situations at one time or another \u2013 if we are honest?\u00a0 How far have we all been from being \u201cthrown away\u201d by society?<\/p>\n
But, I also know that no matter what the childhood, no matter what the circumstances at the time, they had choice.\u00a0 I, nor my family, excuse what these men did or anyone else that is guilty of a crime.\u00a0 I do see a few of the \u201couts\u201d that God gave these men on that fateful night.\u00a0 After they stole the motorcycle it stalled.\u00a0 It could have stopped right there.\u00a0\u00a0 But they made the choice to keep going.\u00a0 When one of them was getting gas from my Dad in the yard all he had to say was, \u201cWe need to get the police.\u201d\u00a0 Crimes were still committed, including the rape of my Grandmother which is horrific, but it would have changed some of the outcomes.\u00a0 And I think these 6 words would have saved that man from a lifetime of guilt and pain.\u00a0 These men chose not to take the \u201couts\u201d.\u00a0 And they have paid dearly for those choices and they will continue to for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 I would love to see a day where we can realize as a community and society that rehabilitation is not a showing of weakness on crime but strength of humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life is full of fine lines.\u00a0 I am learning more and more about balancing the fine line of Justice.\u00a0 Now Justice is a very heavy subject that I am not yet prepared to debate or define.\u00a0 But I do have … Continue reading