Law & Order: In God We Trust - TV.com

Law & Order: In God We Trust - TV.com

I normally do not watch this show, but I was working on the computer last night and wanted some background noise and my stereo is too much of a pain to flip on and off and I have no music on my computer right now.

The episode itself revolved around a guy who shot his sister's black boyfriend (fiance?) nine years previously and since has become a model citizen and born again christian. A lawyer was making the arguement that his conversion and subsequent actions did not require him to go to jail since his conversion he has, by all appearances, rehabilitated himself. In the end the man went to jail for life - the defendent still pled guilty and accepted a life sentence.

The scary part to me is something said by the defense lawyer, to paraphrase "too bad this did not go to jury. Given the way this country is going I could have hung a jury."

Although fictional, I can see where this is true for two reasons, and for reasons that both sides of the liberal/conservative spectrum will hate.

First many conservatives, particularly the born again Christians, would accept the arguement that he has become a different person and jail would do this man no good. I realize that some will want the Old Testament eye for an eye type justice, but most born again types I have met tend to believe in forgiveness for those who have themselves become born again (all the rest of us can, and will in the end, go to Hell). Chrisitan conservatives of all types though could follow along with this type of thinking, although if someone had found god through another religion you would wonder if they would support the arguement.

Second some liberals, although opposed to this argument on the religious merits, would agree that this man is rehabilitated and jail is a waste of time and money. Jail does not rehabilitate people anyways, and many times takes fundamentally descent people and makes them criminals. And besides don't we let people off for temporary insanity?

The scary part is I could see this happening, if it has not already and the way the arguments were written my guess is this has at least by tried somewhere in the United States. This becomes a slippery slope. As the prosecutor pointed out - his subsequent actions can, and should, be taken into consideration in sentencing however the crime should still be prosecuted. But that is the important part - the crime still needs to be prosecuted. Even the subsequent actions need to be evaluated without any kind of religous filtering on. The motivation for someones rehabilitation can be religious, but just because found god, however they care to define god, is not reason alone for a reduced sentence, or worse yet throwing out a case.