Criminal Justice Is Not The Only Kind Available
If the law isn’t as harsh with offenders as you want, that doesn’t mean it’s inadequate, says Veradale attorney James Burnett.
“Because our society doesn’t generally approve of mob rule, we’ve agreed to have agencies or people, empowered by us, determine if an act should be punished by the power of the state or by the private citizen through his or her individual powers of redress,” Burnett said.
In the case of the highway accident that killed 13-year-old bicyclist Cooper Jones, the justice system fined the motorist $250 for second-degree negligent driving - a traffic infraction, not a crime.
“‘Justice,’ people cry, forgetting that justice is not simply the imposition of the state’s great power to strip the individual of property, freedom or even life,” Burnett said.
But, he notes, while law enforcement lacked evidence to justify criminal charges, the victim’s family has the option to sue in civil court, where the power to punish and the burden of proof both are lower.
“The law,” says Burnett, “does provide for punishment in one form or another, for both the specific conduct as well as the consequences.”
“We’ve structured our laws in an atmosphere of deliberation and calm consideration,” he said, “and we’ve done this because almost every one of us understands the potential consequences that come from letting our hearts drag us into an action from which there may be no escape.”
The accident had prompted another reader to call for periodic driving tests when motorists renew their driver’s licenses, but Dale Stegman of Spokane, says that idea is “ludicrous” and unfair to senior citizens.
(Glenna Ward, the driver who struck Jones, is 65.)
“We are all responsible for our own acts and behavior, at least that is the lesson I was taught,” said Stegman. “As long as a person’s health is good, hearing and sight are good and no traffic infractions, I fail to see the need to penalize senior citizens as a whole everytime someone else’s accident occurs.”
Meanwhile, Micky Long of Cheney wonders why no one is blaming the Baddlands Cycling Club, sponsor of the time trial in which Jones was participating at the time of the accident west of Cheney.
“Highways are for motor vehicles and should not be used by bikers unless there is a bicycle lane or the highway is wide enough for them to ride on the shoulder,” she said.
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