Rights vs. Responsibilities
We live in an era when many say the criminal has more rights than the victim. Some criminals going through the court system are released from custody during or after trials due to misconduct of the police or the prosecutors, etc. Rules of law that are not followed exactly in a trial may cause a known killer, rapist, or felon to go free with impunity. The theory of making sure no innocent man is punished at the risk of releasing a real criminal has long been espoused by many legal experts. However, this theory, when implemented, causes the victim or the victim’s family to be denied his/their right to see the perpetrator punished. On the other hand, groups like the Innocence Project have found, through DNA testing, that there were many innocent people who have been incarcerated, some for years or decades.
If I could change the laws, I would see if there were some changes that could be made so those who have gone free and could not be prosecuted again could be retried in certain circumstances. Conversely, although prisoners in some states seem to have an endless number of appeals, other states do not allow for a reasonable number of appeals, in my opinion. I would change the law to see that they are granted more appeals, given the proper circumstances. I think we have the responsibility to see that victims have as many rights as the victimizers.
In my opinion, Amendment I is the single most important of the Bill of Rights. The rights included therein are the reason most of our forefathers came to this country. On a personal level, I have spent some time researching my family history, and I was amazed at how many of my ancestors who came to this country were ministers. They came to here so they and their congregations could practice their religious beliefs in peace, without fear of being punished or executed for these beliefs. We have the responsibility to make sure these rights – freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly, etc. – are carefully guarded so that we can make sure the rest of the Bill of Rights will never be taken away or can be amended for the good of all.
Amendment II has been the subject of great controversy for many years, especially since the fairly recent instances of mass killings. I believe the “conspiracy theory” of many Americans has made it very difficult for the Amendment to be changed to make it more understandable. The right of every citizen to bear arms does not, in my opinion, include some types of firearms. The responsibility of every seller of firearms to make background checks should be enforced. This Amendment, like all the laws penned by the writers of the Constitution, was written before our modern legal system. For instance, we do not, in modern times, need to have ready arms for the citizens to form a militia. I think this law desperately needs changing, and it would be another part of the Bill of Rights I would change. We have a responsibility to let those who govern us know they should not to be swayed by radical groups who just happen to have a lot of money.
There is a fine balance in making sure we continue to keep the rights of the citizen sacrosanct and requiring punishment for those who break the law. An old adage states: “Your rights end where my nose begins.”