No Thought Required

I am continuing on the punishment theme. Two specific situations exist where breaking the rules results in a predetermined reaction. Many schools have a zero-tolerance policy. Some states have a similar statute for adult offenders. Three strikes and you are out applies to more than baseball. In both cases these rules have been enacted by reactionary legislators. What exactly are they reacting to? It is a small but vocal, and therefore powerful, minority of individual voters.

These rules are meant to protect schools and our communities from real threats. Not every crime is committed for the same reasons. Why someone breaks the rules depends on more than a few factors. How and why we punish should be tempered with logic, reason and mercy. School administrators and court judges have had their hands essentially tied. They must do what these laws require or face censure or firing.

Not every student offender deserves to be suspended or expelled. God knows the best place for them would be in school in the first place. In many districts the principal has no choice but to remove the student permanently. This has occurred because a few scared parents helped push through a rule that treats everyone the same. I understand their concerns for their childrens' safety. What their fear has done though has blinded them to the fact that there are differences in circumstances that must be considered before determining proper punishment.

The three-strikes rule has had a similar effect. It is a simplistic law that says after three crimes you will spend the rest of your life behind bars. Again we see that the minority makes the rules. Those who govern are afraid of losing their jobs and so they cater to the few who yell the loudest. No matter if the three crimes were petty the offender will not see the light of day again. This law leaves no room for judges to be just that.

These rules take what would be intelligent people who oversee others and make them into nothing more than figureheads. How can one watch over children or oversee trials if the outcome is predestined? There is no justice in that. Each case must be considered on its own merits. Each offender should be sentenced with a punishment that fits the crime. We must not create rules that simplify the judicial process and promulgate the lie of conformity. We are all not the same!

There is only one solution to this narrow-minded method of sentencing. When the few insist that they speak for the many, the many must speak up in protest. It is only when there is no dissenting voice does the minority get away with creating law that satisfies their narrow world view. Crime is a worry we all share. It touches all of our lives. The solution though is not to create blanket methods for those who break the rules. A fair-minded populace should not stand for it and a true democracy cannot exist as part of it.