Saturday, November 14, 1998

Unequal justice -bail

In the case of accused child molester, James Alderman,( story,

    page A5 , Nov.14 , Providence Journal ) we read : " bail requirements

    are not lowered to accommodate a client's financial situation "  AND

    " Alderman  should stay locked up until trial ".

            Does one have to be a Solomon to see the injustice here ? Is

    the client also implicitly GUILTY of low economic status - an officially

    unrecognized CRIME ?

          In general why do we not challenge this blatant injustice of fixed

    bail and fixed fines - independent of an individual real means ?

           I read, for example, that a person who gets caught recklessly passing

    a stopped school bus can be fined $300.00 . But what a difference in

    punishment ! A rich lawyer loses his weekend parting money; a poor

    laborer loses nearly a month's rent !

           For months now in this White House sex scandal we have been hearing:

    " Nobody is above the law ! " . But it seems that the less affluent are


    all too often... BENEATH THE LAW ! ( less affluent )

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments that are courteous, concise and relevant are always welcome, whether or not they agree with the views expressed here or not. Profanity is not necessary. Thank you for reading “Time Enough At Last!”

Ron