Steeping Off Of The Beaten Path

Well, i am going to step off of the beaten political path to blog on something that is not really political. However it is on a feeling that most politicians, and for that matter, most people in America have. This is a story i read on Foxnews.com. It is by a Lis Wiehl, former prosecutor and Fox News Legal Analyst

"Brooke’s uncle…her stepfather responsible for her kidnapping, rape, and death? Unthinkable…But sexual assault of a child is unlike any other crime. Why? Because someone who is willing to cross the line to pedophilia can never turn back. A shoplifter can be rehabilitated, a burglar can be rehabilitated, even a murderer can be rehabilitated. But not a pedophile. Once a pedophile, always a pedophile. And the children drawn in are the most hapless of victims…betrayed by the people most responsible for taking care of them…tragic."

I have to say that i disagree with what this woman is portraying. You mean to tell me, Lis, that everyone that commits a crime can be rehabilitated EXCEPT for pedophiles. With this mentality you are boxing pedophiles in to be no more than pedophiles during their life (. You are saying that a pedophile can not learn from his/her mistakes and change their lives to the point of not committing that crime ever again. Lis, i am sorry to say, you are part of the reason this country is in the situation it is in. People like you think that no one can make a mistake, and if they do make a mistake criminally, they are to be treated like scum for the rest of their life. I know many people, myself included, that have committed a crime, punished for said crime, then went on to live a very productive life, never committing another crime. But if it were up to perfect people, like you must think of yourself, then we who have committed a crime should be punished by a government penal system, then be allowed to be punished by civilians.

There are some people who would fit your statement about "once a pedophile, always a pedophile". But the rehabilitation plays a large role. The penal system in this country has a mandate to rehabilitate everyone that comes through its facilities. But there is just one problem there. The penal system can not control the brain activities of these people. The only way a person is going to be rehabilitated is on their own. If a person wants to rehabilitate their life, regardless of the fact thaey are in prison or not, they are the only ones that can rehabilitate themselves, and no self-serving egotistical politician can do it for them.

There is too much emphasis, Lis, from people like you on punishing people, and taking people rights away in regards to that punishment. Today, if you commit a crime, then you will pay in some way or another for the rest of your life for that crime. Even after you have been punished by the penal system, you will pay for it. I use myself as an example. I have been convicted of a crime, a non violent crime, but a crime nonetheless. I received my punishment in a court of law. Completed my court punishment before my complete time was up, so i was released from the system, since all court appointed punishment had been served (house arrest, probation, restitution), and have committed no more crime since (over 10 years). But i still have a cloud that will hang over me for the rest of my life due to the fact that i made a mistake. I will be discriminated against for jobs (this is government allowed discrimination, even though discrimination of any sort is supposed to be illegal), i can not own a weapon of any sort (even though it is my constitutional right to bear arms), if a crime was to happen on my property (or near my property) i would be investigated as a prime suspect just because of my record. So as you can see there are many people in this country that are punished legally even after the conviction takes place.

We in this country, hear all the time, about giving people a second chance. It seems to me that that only matters if the people talking are non convicts. The convicts in this country can just rot in hell according to the mentality of the people never convicted of a crime. We need to truly be giving people a second chance. Now don't think i am saying that serial rapists or repeat offenders meet this. I am saying that if you made a mistake and served your time and turned your life around, you should have a fresh start and be able to live life to the fullest without further punishment from society.

Remember the only difference between a person with a record and person without is the person with the record got caught. Every person on this earth has committed numerous crimes in their life, but only some get caught. So don't think you are better than those with a criminal record, your just lucky.


Viva Liberty!