Freedom On My Mind

Like every American blogger worth his or her salt yesterday, I was thinking about freedom. A close near-family member may lose his on Wednesday. In his early thirties, working hard at an executive position in one of the country’s largest corporations, and a new baby to take care of, yesterday’s celebration of American freedom was filled with irony for him. In what can only be considered a strange twist of the Justice system, he is facing a year in prison for pushing and accidentally killing a transient who was belligerently trying to wash his windows—pants around his ankles and a blood alcohol level that should have left him unable to stand let alone walk. In a split second, after living a life of contribution and stand up citizenship, my friend faces the loss of his freedom for the next twelve months. In a unique swap of circumstances, this happened to him in a small California central valley town where whites are in the minority, and prejudice is palpable. While this may be unrelated to the crime or the punishment, it certainly shows that the Lettuce Bowl we live in today is a far cry from the Melting Pot it is suppose to be—and the ramifications that can have on our ideal of a common American heritage.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how that is justice. How it sits with freedom and the “American Way”. How it fits into the intent our system was designed around. A man lost his life, that’s undeniable, but he was not blameless in the incident and what does this punishment achieve? Certainly his death will live with my friend forever. That may be punishment enough.
He and his family came over for a traditional barbeque and fireworks show yesterday. His future was definitely present for all of us. It certainly puts the abstraction of freedom front and center in a very clear way.