legislated forgiveness?

  I posted a small thing yesterday on Facebook about President Biden expunging the record of felons. This is a portion of that. "Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities," Biden said. "Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs." He righted these wrongs by issuing pardons to felons that have been incarcerated or otherwise punished for breaking the law. That is what the media is telling me anyway. There are no specific numbers offered other than in the thousands of people will be affected. It doesn't apply to those that sold the drugs, only those that bought it, however. That is his idea of the moral high ground I suppose. If they hadn't sold it, you wouldn't buy it.

The issue stated was having a criminal record, especially a felony criminal record is an impediment. You are considered for employment, you can't vote, landlords hesitate to rent to you, and you can't go to Harvard or Yale! The reason all of that is true, and I don't deny that it is true, is because that criminal record speaks to your character. It tells others what choices you have made. Breaking the law is a choice! It is something you chose to do. It makes no difference whatsoever if the law you chose to ignore, to break because of your own free will was changed since the day you did that. The action remains unchanged!

In recent years we have established a sex offenders list. That list is a legal requirement. Why have we established that? It is to let others know about the character of those folks on the list! Yes, we have a right to know about that. I believe we also have a right to know about their criminal activities as well. When I joined the Navy a criminal record check was performed. When I got my commercial driver's license with a HazMat endorsement a criminal background check was performed. Prior to receiving a secret clearance to work on nuclear submarines a criminal background check was performed. The reason? To check on the nature of my character!

You cannot simply erase the past. If those folks chose to break the law, they also assumed the risk involved in that. They are also subject to the consequences of that choice. Forgiveness and forgetting are quite different actions. I can forgive but I won't forget. And I'm skeptical of anyone that makes any claim otherwise. Remembering is the most important part in that process. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. If you were willing to break the law once, I have no reason to believe you won't make that choice again. I should be armed with that knowledge, public knowledge.

That is the very reason most criminal records are public records and can be accessed by anyone. I have a right to know something about the character of the person and those legals records are one means to do so. Just like the bank isn't simply going to take your word for it, I'll pay the loan back, I don't want to simply take your word for your character. Hey, ask me about my character? You will never find anyone of better character than me, trust me.

It all speaks to consequences. We are all subject to the consequences of our choices. It's a wonderful thing to live in a country where we get to choose. A country where freedom is cherished, nurtured and protected. A country that has laws! The laws are made by the people and must be obeyed by the people. The laws can be changed, modified, or made obsolete by the people as well. Things is while it is a law it has to be obeyed. It makes no difference what the law was after you commit the crime, what matters is what the law was when you broke it. In years past we had what was called blue laws. Businesses were shuttered, unable to conduct business on those days. When those laws were changed and done away with were all those businesses affected by those laws compensated? They lost business, didn't they? And the law wasn't fair, was it?

Bidens' pardon doesn't apply to those that sold or transported the drug. No pardons for them. If they hadn't transported the illegal product and sold it those in prison wouldn't be there because they wouldn't have been able to buy it. It's the same logic being used with firearms. If no one can sell guns, no one will buy guns. If no one buys guns, no one will shoot others with that gun. We should only punish the sellers! Hey what people did with the product afterward isn't their fault, you sold it to them! It works that way if your coffee is too hot from McDonalds and you get burned. Not your fault, it's McDonalds fault, they sold it.

We've all heard the advice. If you can't do the time don't do the crime. If you don't want a record, don't want to get locked up, don't want to lose your privileges as a citizen, don't break the law! It's really quite a simple thing. You have to earn forgiveness. You can't simply insist I forget about it! It has been said integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. Those records are a means of looking and should remain that way. They are a record of your character. No matter the reason, the excuse, the logic you wish to apply, you chose to break the law. Forgiveness is up to me, not up to you. That's the consequence. You can't legislate forgiveness any more than you can legislate charity. It is always an individual thing, just like your choices.