The American Judicial System and The Witch Hunt

Thoughts race through my mind in response to the radio announcer's comments telling parents to rush to their computers and look up the number of sexual offenders residing within their respective neighborhoods. Personally knowing full well how devastating sexual predators can be, I still paused in alarm. It wasn't what the announcer said; it was how she said it - full of alarm, shock, and an angry passion - a tone that could incite fear and a possible witch hunt.

Does this faceless radio voice realize the full implication of her words? I think not. I don't believe she's ever given it a moments notice. Does she not understand that the problem isn't the sexual predators per se, but the American legal system?

Sexual predation and other culturally defined aberrant behavior are as part of the Human Existence as our bipedal locomotion. The negative aspects of our behavior are an inherent part of the human animal - our species; we simply vary is our triggers and our ability to inhibit these behaviors. We are all capable of serious "wrong doing."

Then there's our legal system - outdated and biased - it simply doesn't work well. When sexual offenders with proven predatory records are released to prowl. . . again - the system failed. When our courts convict way more blacks than whites - the system failed. When the rich are warned and the poor are given life sentences for similar offenses - the system failed. When the innocent are wrongly put to death - there is a serious flaw in our legal system. When jury selection consists of profiling with the goal not being to obtain the Truth, but to obtain a victory as if a person's trial is a competition - then there is a huge problem.

Perhaps we should turn our eyes and fear away from hate-filled witch hunts and force our leadership to fix the problem itself. Until then, we as a society, should apologize for all the innocent lives wrongly devastated by our fears and the American Judicial System.