Double jeopardy

Is justice achieved if a person is to be punished for the rest of their life for a crime that they’ve already been punished for? Of course it’s not.

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that people cannot be tried without a proper jury “nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” For some reason, people have forgotten the rights we’d been given long ago.

This is the case, most recently, in Milwaukie, Ore., where residents in the Ardenwald neighborhood have been protesting the placement of a home for mentally ill felons. Even on the news, we can see the protestors carrying on as if this care facility will endanger them personally by simply being there.

These unfriendly neighbors are ignoring the fundamental truth that the people under the care of the facility have already been tried for whatever crimes they have done and have been declared safe enough to be put into a facility in a regular neighborhood instead of rotting away in a prison that will not help their needs.Protesting their right to be there isn’t any different from the Web sites that declare location and specific whereabouts for all sexual offenders, murderers and people convicted of assault. How does this public information help these people’s rehabilitation? It doesn’t.

I understand citizens are concerned about their own safety, as well as the safety of their children. But, the NISMART National Family Abduction Report from October 2002 shows us that the common form of child abduction is by a child’s own parent or family member. Although the rates of child abduction by strangers are low, they are extremely scary.

Then again, so is everything when it comes to raising a child. Researching ex-criminals on the Internet who have already paid their dues to society and punishing these people a second time will not make your neighborhoods safer. Instead, you have now told a law-abiding citizen that he or she is a monster and should be treated like one. One potential harm of criticizing so harshly is, sadly, in rare instances these citizens become the monster that they are told they are.

What kind of society thinks that someone should be punished forever for a mistake they have already done time for? This might be a cry to our government, saying we don’t trust the rehabilitation that the government offers. Or this could but our unwillingness to accept that people make mistakes in life.

We all have. Like your parents’ precious lamp you broke when you were twelve: your mother punished you for it, but still brings it up in casual conversation, letting you know she hasn’t forgotten. We know it doesn’t feel good and we say that we were young, made mistakes and have grown since then. Why can’t we approach these former criminals with the same mindset?

People might be afraid that these criminals will ruin their lives simply by being there, but what they don’t realize is how much of a monster they look like shouting in protest. Columbia Care, the group building the mental health facility in Milwaukie, has already built 13 facilities just like the one they are working on now and have never had an incident.

All things considered, it seems the Ardenwald neighborhood committee is being extremely ridiculous about the situation. Knowing there are people in a secured facility isn’t making the neighborhood any less safe than it was before, except now society knows protesting the facility and its activities are totally irrational.

I can’t even begin to imagine what these kinds of protests do to the people who live in these facilities. They already have enough things to worry about, without thinking about being harassed in their own neighborhood for getting help. It’s almost as if getting the help they need is totally unacceptable.

I understand the citizens in Milwaukie have the right to exercise freedom of speech based on the First Amendment, but it should not take away other people’s right to live peacefully.

Rehabilitation starts with acceptance and forgiveness, which is something that the Ardenwald neighborhood is going to have to learn in order to make daily activities tolerable. Any insecurity they have about their neighborhood has been self-prescribed and will never help them come to terms with their new neighbors. They need to get over it or move to a community where no one will live next door.