It seems that when it comes to felons in America, justice can never really be served appropriately under the common laws of this nation.
I was just about to put out a nice update on the current state of my garden, and then another dangerous thought popped into my head again. I guess life can’t always be manicured lawns, white picket fences, and another Pleasant Valley Sunday in the suburbs.
Because of things like the recent Poetry Slam Contest from @prufarchy on "If I Ruled the World" and the upcoming election, I was thinking about what would happen if I were in charge. I'm currently 35, so this is the first election that I am actually "qualified" to be a valid candidate, so you can write me in this year if you don't want to throw away your vote. I'll put the official press release post on @papa-pepper running for office later.
Of course there is always a lot of injustices and corruption that seem to persist in polyticks that never gets taken care of. For the record, I spell it that way because it makes it easier to understand the word.
When one gets involved in polyticks one should expect there to be many bloodsucking parasites. With the amount of time that I spend out in the woods and swamps, that's kind of right up my alley. Sometimes I wonder if they are all so "bad" that high in the government that any truly decent person gets scared away from polyticks in the lower levels.
Anyway, one of the things that I would change about the current judicial system and the laws is the way that convicted felons are treated. Here is a quick diagram to show the difference between those who are not convicted felons in America and those who are not.
With the absurdity of some of the laws in this country, I believe that the vast majority of citizens have committed some sort of felony. Even once the questionable laws are thrown out, many more of us still committed felonies. We just didn't get caught. (I am neither affirming nor denying any allegations at this point.)
The motto is usually "DO THE CRIME, DO THE TIME" with "if you get caught" conveniently omitted from the end of that slogan. The general concept is that if you commit the crime, do the time, and pay your fine, you should be back to square one.
They'll even say that you have PAID YOUR DEBT TO SOCIETY.
However, in many ways, convicted felons still lose out.
For one, an absence of a few years on your resume always looks bad when you are applying for a job. Plus, until you are "off paper," you can't even vote. (Though many now believe that makes no difference anyway.) There are other examples too, but I'm concerned about the 2nd Amendment.
The founding documents of this nation demand that the citizens of this nations are entitled to certain "rights."
Being a convicted felon doesn't mean that someone has lost their citizenship, so how could they no longer have the same rights promised to all of the citizens? If the rights of a citizen are going to be taken away, shouldn't the burdens of a citizen also be removed? Shouldn't convicted felons also be exempt from paying taxes to the government that has denied their right to bear arms?
I'm not a convicted felon nor am I an active advocate for the "felon's rights campaign." However, this is one of those things that I would fix if I was in control down here. I believe in forgiveness, and if a debt has truly been paid, then it should be actually considered as such.
Let's say that you commit a felony and I am society. "Disorderly Conduct" is a great example of a potential felony that you could be charged with that is very arbitrary.
Let's say that you do something that a police officer labels as "Disorderly Conduct." Since the average jury these days is not made up of your actual peers and knows nothing about jury nullification they find you guilty as charged and the judge sentences you. Your sentence is 2 years in prison and a $5000 fine.
After you pay me $5000 out of your own pocket and sit in a cage for 2 years, I say, "Thanks, you have now paid your debt in full and all is forgiven." You are glad that it is finally over that you can finally put all of this behind you and move on with your life without facing any more repercussions because of your mistake.
Then, I take your gun away too!
What? Why? How? What gives me the right?
Basically, the answer is "Who cares? Shut up!"
If this is some sort of attempt to keep potentially deadly weapons out of the hands of "dangerous people" we once again become arbitrary and subjective.
I know of a lot of people that I would consider to be much more dangerous than some convicted felons. Plus, those who intend to break the law with a gun will also break the law to get a gun. Guns are everywhere, both legal and illegal. I've heard it said that "BLAMING GUNS FOR KILLING PEOPLE IS LIKE BLAMING SPOONS FOR PEOPLE BEING FAT." If we banned spoons would the general population slim up?
Conclusion
Forgiveness is crucial to existence.
If a debt had been paid, it had been paid.
We are mostly all guilty, we just didn't get caught.
I think that convicted felons should also be able to:
Hunt food for themselves and their families.
Be able to use firearms to defend themselves if they see fit.
Enjoy recreational gun use if they desire to.
Still be part of an armed population able to defend itself from tyranny.
In the end, if you try to be a good guy...
Some bad guys will always come your way.
With, or without, a felony.
And, with, or without, a gun.
What would you change if you could?
Except for the Monkees video and the definitions,
FOLLOW
Awesome Handcrafted @papa-pepper logo kindly donated by @vlad - Thank you!!
OPERATION TRANSLATION logo provided by @oecp85.
(click link above for more info on Operation Translation.)