Another friend of mine is serving a life sentence for murder. She admits that she killed the man, has done absolutely everything possible to qualify for parole, has had no behavior problems in the last 22 years, and, yet, she is now trying to get a new trial since there were significant problems with evidence in the first trial. In my opinion, the least the state could do would be release her on time served. There is a chance of that in 3 years.

Well, you say, don¡¯t do the crime if you can¡¯t do the time. That certainly makes sense. In the case of my male friend, he definitely chose to do the wrong thing, but nobody¡¯s life or property was lost due directly to his crime. His crime was viewing and collecting child pornography. If you were wondering, that is a felony in every state. He was living a comfortable middle class lifestyle, has a family, colleagues and friends, and access to psychiatric help. He, apparently, didn¡¯t think he was hurting anybody.

My female friend, on the other hand, killed her stepfather because he sexually and physically abused both her and her mother. When he told her, believably, that he would kill her mother if she did not have sex with him, she killed him. That was wrong, of course, and it can be argued that she could have chosen a different way of dealing with the problem, but that argument does not take into account many other factors including time, psychological affect of abuse, limited means, limited human resources (She couldn¡¯t wait months to get an appointment with a social worker and police do not usually respond unless there is a demonstrable emergency. A threat is not enough to involve police.)

Obviously, I am inclined to think that my male friend needs to man up, do his time, and completely reorganize his thinking while I think my female friend should be set free. My thinking is further complicated by the fact that I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse whose perpetrator may be suffering in Hell at this moment, but I can take no satisfaction in that. First, whatever someone suffers after his/her death is unknown to me and out of the realm of possible knowledge or control. In short, forget about it. Second, although many people knew of my abuse, nobody felt it imperative to do anything about it, including my mother. There are more ways now than there were then to intervene, but an alarming number of people think ¡°it¡¯s none of my business.¡± Third, nobody could make any money off my abuse. One reason I was a victim is that I was, more or less, free of charge. Fourth, people are selfish and egocentric. They often view others as objects as if ¡°If it¡¯s not MY little girl in those dirty pictures, then it¡¯s all right that she was posed, threatened, bribed, or whatever it took to enrich a third party.¡±

Many American people were righteously indignant when Casey Anthony was acquitted of the murder of her daughter early this summer. Our justice system is flawed, but it is the justice system we have to work with and, in many ways, it serves us well by preventing emotions to override facts. We have had several trials in recent history where the accused was acquitted when the overwhelming sense of justice said the person was guilty. The majority sense of justice has generally gotten its due in terms of how the acquitted person fares in society after release. This is not a happy outcome. Mistakes both in acquittal and conviction have been made and continue to be made. Some people do, indeed, get away with murder. Should we just hang them straight away? What if, as in the case of the 3 men in Arkansas, it can be demonstrated even many years later that they could not have done the crimes they were accused of? In this country, we feel much better if we think the wrong-doer (or somebody) is undergoing some level of misery in some proportion to the misery that person created. Bernie Madoff will never get out of jail, but the money he stole will also never make it back to the pockets of those who trusted him with it in the first place. It doesn¡¯t seem fair. O. J. Simpson didn¡¯t really enjoy freedom and is now back in jail for other crimes not related to the murder charge he was not convicted of.

We tend to think that if a person will commit a crime, then he or she will commit others. There is a certain amount of truth in that because we fail to make crime less necessary or appealing as a solution to problems in our society. Back in the day when cities and towns were smaller, there was more opportunity to nip social issues before they led to crime, not that we actually had the foresight to take action on those issues so as to reduce potential crime. As we have grown, we have not adjusted ourselves to new realities. We have set the standard of living bar so high that only a few people can live the way they want to. This is nothing new at all, of course, but now, instead of imagining how the rich live, we see it on TV 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, we are told by people trying to sell things, that we are missing out, that we deserve something better, that whatever we desire should, by rights (whatever we say they are), be ours. There is no need to wait, to plan, to work or figure out a legitimate way to acquire what we want. Other people are images on the screen. They are not our neighbors, fellow travelers on the journey of life, or members of our family. They are objects and obstacles to our getting what we want or think we want.

My male friend did not have a jury trial. He agreed to have his case heard by a judge only. My female friend believed that a jury trial would be the most fair. Who was right? What should be done with felons? Why don¡¯t we try harder to get at the roots of crime?

The root of crime is, usually, poverty whether real or perceived or revenge. People continue to think that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is fine. Those who are Christian, have to take into account that Jesus (who really didn¡¯t pronounce on laws current in his day all that often) said, ¡°You have heard that it was said, ¡®An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.¡¯ But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you.¡± (Matt. 5:38-39) One has to wonder how such equivalent justice does much goodþu now you have two blind people or toothless people instead of one. Insurance companies try to put a value on various body parts, but that, of course, is only approximate and doesn¡¯t begin to recompense for the real losses.

When we consider sex crimes of any sort, we run onto horrible problems. It was fairly easy in Jesus¡¯ day: you simply stoned the offender. The offender died and everybody else was supposed to learn from that. It didn¡¯t work. Today, we occasionally execute someone, but, usually, they serve a long prison term and then have to be placed on the Sex Offender List so that the public knows whom to watch out for. It is, perhaps, a step in the right direction, but, there again, it doesn¡¯t go to the root of the crime. Today¡¯s laws attempt to address such issues as what constitutes private, consensual behavior, how is the public affected, is the behavior likely to cause physical, psychological, or emotional damage and, if it does, how do we quantify that damage and how can it be remedied. The possibility for problems goes on and on. We throw our effort into fixing and pay relatively little attention to prevention.

Everyone deserves a safe and happy childhood. All people should be born into loving families who can feed, clothe, and shelter them adequately. All people should have some older children and adults who mentor them and teach them right from wrong, steer them in a good direction, support their talents and skills, talk to them and love them. This, of course, is not happening nearly enough. When we get ourselves hung up on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, or, even, who gets the good jobs, we sell ourselves short. We show our selfishness all day every day and do nothing to promote the law of love that should govern our every action. You will find this law to be a tenet of practically every religion and generally acknowledged by persons of no faith whatsoever. It is this: treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Would you enjoy being threatened with losing your life or the life of a loved one? Would you like to lose your virginity by force? If you have anything at all, would you like it to be stolen? Is it your goal in life to be lied to, taken advantage of, or treated as less than human? If your answer is no, then I have one more question: what are you doing to others and how can you help others to follow the law of love?