IGNORING THE LAW

Following the law is a fundamental tenet of a democratic society. There are times, however, when ignoring, or even flouting the law, as in the civil disobedience of the 1960’s Civil Rights marches. The purpose there, however, was to highlight evil laws and get them removed.

A more insidious attack on our criminal justice system, however, is the application of “Zero Tolerance” policies without common sense. When a child is handcuffed and arrested for writing on her desk with a marker, or another fined for being late to school, the message we send is that no matter how hard you try, you can’t win. Even minor things that children have been doing since schools were invented are now treated as violent crimes, so why try? Instead of writing innocent things on your desk, write obscene ones. Instead of being late and getting fined, stay out of school.

Until our intolerance and intransigence are themselves ameliorated, there will be increasing disrespect for the law. We’re doing it ourselves, so let’s stop NOW!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/18/new.york.doodle.arrest/index.html