Perversion of Justice, but whose justice?

One of the most fundamental principles learned in science is Newton’s Third law which states “for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” I cannot help but feel this is applicable to every aspect of our lives. For everything we do there are consequences and rewards. This, my friends, is what can be and is considered Choice and Accountability. Everyday we are faced with choices. Whether it is to buckle up, what food we eat, do we follow the law and so forth – we make these choices and with that we must be accountable for what happens afterwards – for the equal and opposite reaction.

With all that being said let me now explain the purpose of it. This past Friday night I went out with some friends to see a documentary called “Perversion of Justice”. Short and to the skewed and overtly biased point, the documentary told the story of Hamedah Hasan, a single mom currently serving time in prison for assisting a cousin who sold drugs. 27 years. That is what Ms. Hasan was given due to mandatory minimum sentencing. She willingly with complete knowledge broke the law. And with that choice, came a consequence. Should I feel sorry for her? Should I be saddened for her family? Perhaps, and to be honest truly I was. It breaks my heart that a woman chose her cousin over her three daughters. It breaks my heart that three children were forced to raise themselves. However, it also breaks my heart to know that there are millions of families who are torn apart because of drugs.

For a background I must say this is somewhat personal for me. My brother. who I love with all my heart, was once addicted to drugs. Marijuana and crystal meth to be exact. Is he innocent in this, heck no? I believe that he will have to take full responsibility for his actions. The actions, which have hurt every person in my family. Throughout the film and during the question and answer panel that followed many times it was suggested that Ms. Hasan was convicted of a nonviolent crime. On the surface, I could see how people would agree with that. Really, she just wired some money and held on to some drugs. How did that hurt anyone? But I can tell you. I know the many late night phone calls I receive from my brother in his drug induced paranoia, I can recount the year that followed after I finally persuaded him to move up here to come clean off of drugs, the many times I woke up to screaming or the times he thought people were out to get him. It hurt so bad to see him cry with pain, physical pain. I was there when he had teeth pulled out because the drugs ruined them. It was violent on every level imaginable. And to this very day we still have to worry for him and pray for him to be made whole. But, to say that having a hand in distributing drugs is not violent would be incorrect if not a complete lie.

Moving on, I am actually not writing this because I think we have a perfect system. I cannot say that I absolutely agree with the federal minimum sentencing mandates – I am actually reading up on them now so I can make an informed decision. However, I do have a problem with anyone who says something is wrong without a solution. We have a terrible drug epidemic in this country. The minimum sentencing, as well as a few other consequences were created to help fight that. I will not say it is working. But, just as when your toilet is broken you don’t just get rid of it, you fix the silly pot or replace it we should do the same with our laws. We live in a beautiful country. A land, “choice above all others” A country that gives us more power then we choose to believe we have. We can make changes. So when I asked in front of over a hundred people who were championing the cause presented to them that night what the suggested solution was, can I tell you how blown away I was when I found out they didn’t have one. Not only was I not given a proposed solution, one member of the panel, Eric E. Sterling actually became irate with me. The more I heard, the more something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I can tell you without a doubt that something was amiss.

When I made it home I actually started doing research. I know, only I would be one to start looking up information on what many would call a seemingly insignificant documentary at 1 in the morning but there I was doing it. And I must say what I found shocked me. Eric E Sterling – let me pause to reference the scriptures which warn us of the “evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men.” In my opinion Mr. Sterling would fit the bill. To shorten my story here I will give you links to what he supports and you will see that why he wasn’t’ able to give me a solution is because the solution he has would make the majority of Americans run and hide. From what I can piece together, it appears as though his agenda is to remove all consequences to those who break any of our drug laws without placing new laws in. And why would he want to do this, you might ask? Well to legalize drugs. To have those drugs, that destroy people and their families, produced, distributed and taxed in this country. And to this purpose I started writing. It is wrong, drugs destroy the lives of those who use them, the lives of those who care for those who use them, and even the random bystanders that get caught in the cross fire. I am sickened to think of the higher amount of people who would be hurt by this. What scares me even more are the many people who are championing the little causes without realizing the whole picture. I cannot just sit idly by and watch it happen. I do not expect everyone to agree with me or even believe but I do recommend doing your research and following through as you see necessary. Here are the links to help you do that

http://www.cjpf.org/about/ericbio.html

http://www.ssdp.org/

http://www.leap.cc/

http://stopthedrugwar.org/home

I can’t help but feel that these sites really do show what Eric Sterling is truly wanting. Whether you agree or disagree you can always contact your local representative of congress to let them know where you stand and what you want!

http://www.house.gov/

from this site you can locate your local member of the house of representatives

http://www.senate.gov/

from this site you can locate your local senator