Justice For All?

(By linking to this story, I am by no means suggesting you read it. It's a heartbreaking story of a girl who was murdered last year, and the details of it are enough to make me want to cry, or throw up, or maybe both.)

Sometimes, America's justice system is a joke. OJ and Baretta come to mind as high-profile celebrity examples where truth loses out to high-powered lawyers, immaterial investigation "errors", or just plain common sense.

In this case, there will be no expensive lawyers to buy this career criminal out of jail. He will be convicted, no doubt in my mind, as he deserves. He will be taken out of the community, and everyone breathing within 100 miles of him should feel safer knowing that one less pedophile/predator/murderer is walking the streets.

Let me get this straight... the victim's DNA is found at the suspect's residence, the "suspect" confesses to the murder and tells authorities where to find the undiscovered body... and now the suspect's slimeball attorney wants the discovery of the body to be inadmissable in court because the suspect hadn't yet contacted a lawyer?

(I understand the need for due process. I understand that a coerced confession under intense questioning can be unfair, but come on...)

Last night at my high school guys' group, we talked about the qualities of a man... not a boy... a MAN. One big difference between boys and men is that true men take responsibility for their actions.

I don't think this guy will get off, but he has bigger things to worry about. Jesus ain't gonna buy into any "yeah, I killed that girl, but since the cops didn't get me my lawyer soon enough, I'm not really guilty" excuses. Seems like it's always anyone's fault but my own.

Step up, men of God. Nobody expects you to live a perfect life, but along with our imperfection comes the responsibility to accept the consequences of our mistakes. And consequences are very real for the criminal and the non-criminal... we all need to step up and accept them, and thank God for the grace provided for us that can save from the eternal consequence.