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When Chokeholds Do Not Apply

Jan 16, 2015
by Caroline Miller
chokehold, Eric Garner, law enforcement uneven, too many laws
0 Comment

At one point in my political life I seriously advocated that the County Commission, of which I was a member, reserve every 3rd or 4th year to consider eliminating some of the laws on our books.  My remark always earned a laugh, but I was in dead earnest.  Unfortunately, when someone gets elected to public office, he or she feels the need to create a record of accomplishment and that usually means adding a basket of new laws to those that already exist, most of which no one remembers.   Unfortunately, running for reelection on a record of having rescinded laws doesn’t garner much excitement from voters and may encourage the opposition to charge the incumbent with being ineffective.  But I still think I’m right about too there being too much legislation and cite a statistic that may surprise more than a few.  So many edicts exist at all levels of government, it’s probable that “more than 70 percent of American adults have committed a crime that could lead to imprisonment.”  (“Talking Points: Are there too man laws to enforce?” The Week, 12/19/2014 pg. 18.)

A plethora of laws leads to uneven enforcement which, in itself, can encourage a disregard for laws in general.   On the other hand, a policy of zero tolerance for law breakers can lead to absurd or tragic consequences.   Take, for example, the chokehold death of Eric Garner.  His crime?  Selling “loosies” — individual cigarettes — on the street for 75-cents apiece.  He could have given them away and been guilty of no offense, but some officious legislator felt compelled to make a distinction. 

 Eric Garner wasn’t a criminal in any serious sense.  His was a minor infraction that didn’t deserve the death penalty.  His misfortune was to encounter a police office who exercised zero tolerance and the scuffle that followed ended in tragedy.  On the other hand, every year cruise ships dump more than 1 billion gallons of sewage into the ocean, “enough sewage to fill 10 backyard swimming pools a week” per cruise ship.  (“News,” The Week, 12/19/14, pg. 18)  The offense persists but I can’t recall the last time when the  CEO of Carnival Cruises was ever caught in a chokehold.  

My point?  The country has too many laws and fails to enforce the ones that count.  If I were ever in government again, I’d remember the words of Robert Frost. Before I wrote a law I’d ask to know whom I was walling in and walling out.

chockehold

Courtesy of neocolebitchie.com

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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