Police vs Everyone Else

The problems start with the many lines that the state continues to draw between citizens and the police that continue to make it look like we are being occupied by a foreign army.  An example of this is the current statute on the death penalty and which murders qualify as a capital offense.  The single crime of homicide against a barber, chef, engineer, teacher, physician, dentist, sailor, fishermen, priest or any number of other civilian jobs have the maximum punishment of a life sentence.  However the homicide of a police officer (judge and prosecutor as well) must be punished by death (especially in Texas).  The message that the current law sends is that some lives are worth more than others and not all human lives are equal.  Some people are but mere pawns and others more important pieces.  The message is that if you kill a police officer you will face the death penalty.  However the murder of any other civilian (for example the barber, chef, engineer, teacher, physician, dentist, sailor, fishermen or priest) is more tolerable and the punishment is less. 

This separation creates two separate classes determined by employment.  The first class consisting of police (including judges and prosecutors) and the second class citizens being everyone else.  With the state choosing what lives are of more value than others I would expect significant animosity to breed and occasional violence to erupt between the first class and the second class.  Under the current logic of this part of the capital murder statutes we could probably create a third class or citizens based on employment including the homeless, drug dealers and prostitutes with the murder of these individuals punishable by maybe 10 years in prison.  This follows the logic of the state that certain lives are worth more than others based on the occupation of the victim.

So much for all that crap about all life being precious and all men being created equal.  

Another example of this kind of thinking as TX Representative Jason Villalba’s House Bill 2918 in bill that (thankfully failed in the legislature this past session) criminalized the filming of police absent certain distances.  

The more distance that we put between the police and the public will be measured by a loss of transparency, accountability and trust.

Lee Baird