It’s no wonder our country’s police officers are frustrated. Just as quick as they round up the perps and get them off the streets, they’re back out committing more crimes – and this happens over and over.
There are many problems with our judicial system. For starters, a good attorney can often find a technicality to keep their client from incarceration. I listened to a phone-in radio show this morning in which a high-priced defense attorney was telling someone facing pending drug charges ways to make sure the charges don’t stick. (I know everyone deserves a fair trial, but no one should get off on a technicality if they are truly guilty.)
Second, the punishment is frequently not severe enough. Consider the case (or should I say cases) of Henry Earl of Lexington, Kentucky. As of September of last year, Mr. Earl has been arrested more than 1,000 times in the last 13 years – almost all for public intoxication. That adds up to just about one arrest for every five or six days he’s been alive since that date – and far less than that if you don’t count the days he’s actually spent behind bars. Mr. Earl makes Otis Campbell from The Andy Griffith Show look like a choirboy.
I long for the good old days when the punishment fit the crime. If you were sentenced to five years, you did five years. Now you might get 6-7 months, and for someone like Mr. Earl the jail’s like a Motel 6. They probably really do leave the light on for him in Lexington.
The system needs repair … soon.
Thank you to all the police officers who keep us safe and put up with crap like this – and still continue to do their jobs with a positive attitude.
