A BLIGHT UPON WHO WE ARE

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 423

Here are three things that I believe place a blight upon who we are as a Constitutional Republic:

Our prison at Guantanamo Bay: After 9-11-01 this prison was intentionally placed in Cuba because that would not make the inmates subject to our country’s Constitution and other laws. And this has been allowed by all US Presidents since that time. The Supreme Court has afforded them legal counsel, but that is about all. Hence numbers of people were imprisoned there – sometimes for decades – without even any charges being brought against them, much less afforded a trial. And some of them are still there as you read this. NO! This blight cannot be allowed to continue! Our country is better than that!

I have received numerous letters from men who are incarcerated in various federal prisons all around the country saying that, by law, they are entitled to have regular counseling sessions to assist in their rehabilitation efforts But several prisoners in Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution in Texas write that their sessions consist solely of them being asked two questions: ”Has your emergency contact information changed? and “Do you have any questions?” Then they are asked to sign a pre-printed form and the session is over within about five minutes. Of course, I only have their statements so I don’t know if this is true. But statistics show that a person being released on parole who has a job to go to has a recidivism rate of about 7 percent, but a person who does not has a rate of over 60 percent. So, if this information is true, not only are the correctional officials being lazy and breaking the law, they are wasting lots of taxpayer money and lives.

Recently President Trump issued an Executive Order that barred all members of a particular large nationwide law firm from entering any federal buildings, which included, of course, federal courthouses. Why was this order issued? Because that firm had represented clients who disagreed with President Trump. Things like this are a serious threat to our system of justice, and they must not be allowed to occur!

So what can be done? The fundamental hope for action comes from a concerned media that can spread the alarm. And frequently if there is enough concern expressed in our society the medial will investigate and act. As has been written numbers of times in these columns, it is our government, and if it is not working we have no one to blame but ourselves. I agree that this is a daunting thought, but it still is the ultimate answer. So please help us spread the word!

(Comment from one of our 2 Paragraphs Family Members: “I entered ten puns into a competition to see if one would win. No Pun In Ten Did. . ”)