UNACCEPTABLE

Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair

UNACCEPTABLE


From the beginnings of our country there have been unsettled, unhappy, irrational, mentally and emotionally disturbed people in our midst.

These people are still with us and always will be.

One television program or political campaign or school disciplinary procedure does not make them what they are. They are a product of a gene pool, parenting style, exposure to outside events, lack of medical and psychological attention, and so many other variables that it is simply not acceptable to try to define their disorders by attacking any one of these “causes.”

What prompted a young man to shoot President Reagan? Should we really believe it was simply an attempt to impress an actress?

When President Garfield was gunned down by an unhappy job seeker, are we to really believe it was only the assassin’s inability to receive employment that caused him to take the life of our national leader?

When a young fan shot the “Beatle” John Lennon outside his NYC residence should we really accept that he simply wanted fame.

These three murderers, and so many others who find themselves in these situations are the product of a lifetime of experiences as well as possible deficiencies in their physical and mental health. All of this comes together in the moment of their taking an action that runs counter to the norms of society.

Our society, over many years, has evolved ways of handling these sorts of aberrant behavior. We do it through our justice system. Occasionally, the justice system must work hand in hand with mental health professionals.

Early in our history these murderers often met with tragic ends. There were lynchings. There were ostracisms from society. There were incarcerations and commitments to mental institutions.

Today we are advanced enough to apply all the remedies and penalties crafted by laws enacted over years of experience. We are able to separate crimes of passion, crimes of premeditation, crimes of incredible perversity and to bring to the equation both the penalty required and the treatment necessary in light of all the special circumstances.

The Arizona Congresswoman was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing: communicating with her constituents. The federal judge stopped by on his way home from Mass to ask the Congresswoman some questions. A little nine-year-old girl was experiencing the thrill of seeing a member of Congress right in front of her. In other words, normal people were going about normal activities when an abnormal personality brought down on them unspeakable horror.

This disturbed young man must now face the totality of our justice system. He must be tried and he must be punished. Whatever his deficiencies and whatever the extenuating circumstances the final fact of taking away the future of so many people, separating them from their loved ones, denying us their talents and forever ending their dreams simply is too great an affront to permit rational and heartfelt sympathy for him or an acceptance that his own demons were the foundation of his behavior.

In the passage of time, he will receive both justice and treatment.

In the passage of time we will come to understand what happened in Arizona to be part of the unpredictable and random part of life.

We will never come to understand why we encounter these people any more than we really understand why bad things happen to good people.

Our human nature will never allow us to ignore the randomness of this kind of acting out. Our deepest feelings, our convictions, will never permit us to be completely without wanting some sort of justice to be applied to such acts.

But justice is measured. Justice is delivered in the manner our deepest study and experience has shown us to be impartial and right. Our justice system has evolved over hundreds of years of experience in our own country and with an understanding of the common law that traces back far beyond that in the world.

It would be good if we could begin to better see the early signs of this kind of outrageous behavior in individuals. There never is a lack of signs. Each time we modify our reaction to the signs or allow ourselves to be lulled into believing the signs do not have meaning nor require remedies, we enable this kind of person to engage in behaviors that eventually lead to the kind of situation we experienced in Arizona.

As a country, as a people, we need to be more engaged in observing our fellow citizens and we need to be more willing to intervene at an earlier point in the divergent paths some people seem to be on, divergent from commonly acceptable behaviors.

Let us stop being enablers and begin being better observers on a path that could seriously reduce these sorts of anti-societal behaviors.