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Show j R7isdom & Wisecracks j By SHERRI EINFELDT Over the past several years our judicial system has become so sophisticated that we can now solve cases that previously would have baffled law enforcement and justice officials. It is now to the point where crime is one big game between be-tween criminals trying to beat the system and law enforcement officers offi-cers trying to beat the technicalities of the system. I believe the whole problem stems from the fact that we have modified our way of thinking about breaking the law in our society. No longer is it blatantly wrong to break the law. It's only wrong if you get caught and can't show that your civil rights were violated while you were getting caught..or so it seems. The latest string of cases wherein drug arrests have been thrown out because the people who were, in reality, guilty of illegal drug violations viola-tions were found "not guilty" according ac-cording to the judges because they got caught in a manner that wasn't pleasing to the perpetrators. These recent rulings seem to say, "If you get stopped for a traffic violation while in possession of illegal il-legal drugs, and you happen to have a certain color skin, you are home free in Utah we'll let you off because we don't want to be accused accus-ed of racism." It's the biggest farce our system has invented yet in the name of protecting individual civil rights. I, for one, would be more than-happy than-happy to be stopped every single time I travel through southern Utah to have my car searched. I've never touched illegal substances so I have no fear of getting caught committing commit-ting any crime. I would welcome the inconvenience inconve-nience of every motorist being stopped if it resulted in the conviction convic-tion of even a few of those who have gotten away with breaking the law for such a long time now. It's no wonder so many people are screaming about random searches they're afraid they might be the next ones to actually get caught breaking a law. And there are other perpetrators. If so many people weren't still using us-ing drugs, the traffic wouldn't still be a flourishing business and we wouldn't have people crying over civil rights and costing taxpayers a bundle trying to fight the problem. The courts that are ruling against the spirit of the law and are letting the guilty go free on technicalities are guilty themselves of perpetuating the drug problem, in my opinion. Breaking the law is wrong, regardless of how one gets caught! We're so paranoid about losing our precious rights that we're losing our precious lifestyle, our precious children, our whole precious country coun-try in the process. As long as those guilty of supporting the drug problem prob-lem in any way are allowed to go free, our rights are already compromisedour com-promisedour right to live without fear of physical harm, our right to clean, happy neighborhoods, our right to have tax money used for constructive uses instead of more jails and police officers, our right to travel on planes with crews who are not high, our right to have a lot fewer neglected and abused children of addicted parents, our right not to fear the spread of AIDS from sharing drug needles. |