Dear Editor,
I noted this week, the SN news item of May 8th which stated ‘Youth gets two years for possession of single bullet.’
The details from the news report suggest that the young man, Steve King has no criminal record but admitted to be in possession of a single .32 bullet. A small bullet which is generally used in a .32 revolver.
I was dismayed.
Last year, we had the case of a man who made an arrangement for sexual gratification one night with a young woman. He alleged that after the exercise he fell asleep, and claimed when he woke up that a relatively small sum of money was missing from his pocket.
The woman, the mother of young children was sent to prison. Of course, she could not afford a defence counsel. In a morally erect society, this gentleman would have been reluctant to relate his alleged experience. Daily, we read of persons being jailed for small amounts of marijuana.
The most recent was a middle-aged man who admitted using the substance and explained that it was the only way he can obtain relief from his pains.
In Canada and several other countries, the use of marijuana for recreational and health purposes has been decriminalized.
The renowned English author Charles Dickens through his nineteen century popular novel Oliver Twist was responsible for coining the phrase “The Law is an Ass.”
Our prisons are overcrowded and creating conditions for upheaval and jail breaks.
Yet, with gay abandon our judiciary and the police send people to jail where they spend taxpayers’ money to feed, clothe and house them.
I mean no disrespect to our Magistrates and Police; I suppose they are doing their jobs as they understand it, but alas, the Law is an ass.
Today, we witness a continuation of corruption, theft of the people’s money. We witness big ones defying the police.
Recently, we had this week a gentleman pulling a gun on a police party but because of the legal and other contortions this gentleman like others still enjoys freedom in the comforts of his home.
The law is an ass.
We have not yet solved the ‘Monica Reece’ high-profile murder and it appears to me that inspite of the Government’s good intention, the system is still treating certain folks with kid-gloves.
With due recognition to my friend C.N. Sharma ‘Justice should be for all’, but alas, this is not the case. Why? Because the law is an ass.
Today, we note Attorneys forming political parties.
Where are the Attorneys with some sense of compassion to come to the aid of the likes of Steve King thrown to the wolves to mix and mingle with hardened criminals?
What have we done to the soul of this young man?
Is the Bar Association and others not aware of the permanent damage being done to young people who have grown up in surroundings where there is an invisible line between right and wrong, good and bad?
In addition to our Attorneys, and also the media, when will our society show some compassion for those who make little mis-steps while for those who plunder, it is business as usual.
May God help us.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
