But there is something very troubling in the article about one of his victims. From the
June 4, 2012 Seattle Times:
Patrick B. Drum, 34, of Sequim, was arrested Sunday in
connection with the shooting deaths of two registered sex offenders after a
massive manhunt in a heavily wooded area near Port Angeles.
That's not right. But deeper in the article we learn something disturbing about Washington State justice:
Court documents and state Department of Corrections (DOC) records indicate
that Ray was convicted of two counts of first-degree child rape. As a first-time
offender, he qualified for an alternative sentence and did no prison time,
according to the DOC. [emphasis added]
Does that trouble you as much as it troubles me?
This is bad. Mob justice gets out of hand far too quickly.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, though, when the system fails to do its job, the people take up the slack.
"The police are the people, and the people are the police, the police being only citizens who are paid to attend, full time, to the duties incumbent on every citizen."
Duties incumbent on all of us. That duty should be limited to defending ourselves and families against a direct assault, or operating as posses under official orders.
But we have been denied the right and responsibility to do our share, and the system has been failing to do its part.
And this lynching, because that's what it is, is the inevitable result.