On my way back and forth to work, even though I have satellite radio and lots of options, I usually have the radio set to the local public radio station so that I can catch the news from National Public Radio.
The other day, I heard a disturbing story, where the State of New Hampshire had decided not to appoint a public defender for people accused of abuse or neglect of children.
Before we all roll our eyes and close our minds with a cry of “but those animals deserve what they get!”, the news article discussed a man who was in danger of having his four-year old daughter taken from him by the State, and put up for adoption, because he was unable to provide an acceptable place for her to live.
She wasn’t beaten. She wasn’t starved. She wasn’t uncared for or abused. They were simply poor, and had no steady place to live.
The States District Attorney said that prosecuting these parents who had no legal advice was like “shooting fish in a barrel”.
When are we going to wake up and look around and see what we are doing to ourselves? This family is doing their best, and under the rules of our country we should either help them, or at least stay out of their way and not make their situation worse by meddling.
Under the rules of the State of New Hampshire, and many other states as well, were we to have another great depression, the State would be obligated to step in and take millions of children from their parents.
Did you ever watch the movie Grapes of Wrath or read the book by John Steinbeck? Under todays rules, some self-righteous do- gooder would feel the need to step in and take the Joad children away and put them up for adoption, and as punishment for being poor and down on their luck, the parents would be denied the legal representation that a murderer or rapist would get without question.
Shortly after World War II ended, my mothers parents used war bonds to purchase some land in South Florida, where they proceeded to build a house. It wasn’t much of a house, but while they were building it, the family lived in an old army tent that my granddad put up on the bank of the Hillsborough canal. Would that have been considered as inadequate housing and grounds to have the children taken away by the state?
We’ve all had versions of Gladys Kravitz in our lives. The stereotypical nosey neighbor who just can’t mind her own business. These people range from a harmless nuisance, to downright dangerous to our way of life if they manage to get organized and can berate lawmakers into actually legislating on their behalf.
Our country has become so obsessed with child abuse and sex crimes that we have crossed over into silly.
Most states now have some sort of registry whereby offenders must register and report their address, long after they have actually served any jail sentences or probation. In some jurisdictions, these people are not even allowed to live in decent places because of schools that are located within a half mile or more. We treat murderers better than this, and it just makes no sense.
What has happened to us? Where are the proud people who forged into unknown lands, fought off Indians and nature and built homes and subsisted in places where there was no government? Where we worked with our neighbors and treated each other decently? Where we didn’t look to the government for a handout.
I’m afraid for my grandchildren. The world is becoming a not very nice place to live, with sharp dividing lines between the haves and have-nots, and where our United States of America is gradually becoming not so very different from China or Burma or even North Korea.
At stake now is our right to a fair trial. Our laws are so complicated that no ordinary person can hope to navigate their way through any legal process. Having our children taken away because we are poor and can’t afford a lawyer or a place to live is the next step on our road to the world described in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.