Public Defense

Enough already

By Gideon

I can’t read the news anymore, nor can I watch it. Perhaps this is why I exclusively read blogs. News is depressing these days and local news more so. The headlines are practically the same every week: “2 shot in New Haven”, “Man found dead in Hartford”, “Summer is around the corner; violence is spiking”.

There was  a time when I’d read the stories with some interest and make a mental note of the coverage. This could, after all, be my next case.

But not anymore. Not today, at least.

I’m tired. I’m tired of the violence. I’m tired of the lives needlessly lost. I’m tired of the damage to the community and the individuals. I’m tired of watching yet another man take someone else’s life and throw his own away. I’m tired of yet another directionless teen who got sucked into the “culture”, yet another mope who knows of no other way but crime. I’m tired of the grandstanding, the pontification, the holier-than-thou attitude. I’m tired of society getting outraged at the consequences, but doing nothing to treat the cause.

Crime will never stop. As long as I love my job, I guess that’s a good thing. There’ll always be something to do, someone to represent, some novel legal issue to research into the ground.

Sometimes I just wish it didn’t have to come with the attendant realities of pain, loss and fleeting promises of lives since extinguished.

Besides, I have too much work already. Give this guy a break, will ya? Stop shooting and killing each other.

Full post as published by A Public Defender on April 11, 2010 (boomark / email).