What has happened to the idea of a nation that protects, "Freedom, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for all?" I am referring to America's legal system and the recent changes that have taken place in its structure. Although one can rightly wonder if we have ever lived up to these lofty goals, which our founding fathers wrote so eloquently, no one can deny that we are not only failing our own criterion, but we are moving in the opposite direction, towards a justice system, based on suspicion, fear and the wealth of those accused.
One only needs to look at the two most famous legal cases of this decade: Rodney King and O.J. Simpson. Both cases, in my and many other's opinions, were clear cut. Both were legal travesties. One involved a poor black man, another a rich, famous black man. Both involved racist police officers.
The racist officers that beat King were declared innocent, and the practice that a poor man has no rights was upheld. In the Simpson trial, Mark Fuhrman, racist officer that he was, allowed a clearly guilty man to go free. Why? Because he could afford the legal representation to buy his freedom.
But the inequalities in the system go deeper than those cases. Were you aware, that your car can be searched by any officer if your headlight is out? The Supreme Court this spring gave a precedent that allowed officers to search a vehicle even if the driver was just pulled over for a traffic violation, as long as they have "reasonable suspicion." Translation: If you have hippie hair, like myself, or God forbid if you are not white, you will be searched.
The powers of the police force are being expanded, even as it is becoming clear how racist and abusive the police force is. The other day, I was walking over to the gym, when I saw five police officers surrounding a black man outside of Topliff, who looked like he had just been pulled over for a traffic violation. I doubt that if the same man had been white, this would have happened.
As this country continues its "War on Drugs," the casualties are growing. In an obviously pointless attempt to stop people from possessing a weed, the same one that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew, the same plant that the Declaration of Independence was written on, we are losing those rights given to us. No longer can one expect to be able to pursue happiness if you fall into a police officer's stereotype of a drug user. And we all know how accurate stereotypes are.
Just as disturbing, justice is becoming a matter of how much you can spend on a lawyer. Police will use last-minute delays and run-arounds to ring up your legal expenses, if you can afford a private defender. If you can't, you'll be told to settle for a fine and probation, no matter your guilt or innocence.
Frankly, the system can't handle the number of law-breaking citizens. Why? Because we have all become law-breaking citizens. Every Dartmouth student who is under 21 who has had beer is a law-breaker. Every Dartmouth student over 21, who supplied alcohol to someone under 21, is a law-breaker. Every Dartmouth student who has experimented with marijuana, or any other drug, is a law-breaker. Every Hanover High kid under 18 who has smoked a cigarette is a law-breaker. When will this insanity end?
The more that we try to regulate each other, the more that we return to the Puritan theocracy that founded this region, the more that we restrict other's rights to pursue happiness, the more we will take away our own liberties.
Perhaps we should all think about one possible solution. What one wants to do with one's own body is their own business, so long as they do not endanger anyone else. Maybe then we can get back some of our inalienable rights that have been stripped away.
