Justice?

The guilty verdict came in much sooner than expected (by me) in the Isaac Lethbridge case. Closing statements finished earlier this afternoon and court was recessed for lunch and then they were to give jury instructions. Apparently no instructions were more powerful than the ones the jurors felt inside, as the jury came back this afternoon at 4 p.m. with a guilty verdict on the count of manslaughter. Oddly enough, though (and perhaps because the trial was so focused on Isaac's death), Charlsie Adams-Rogers was not found guilty of misdemeanor child abuse in the case of Isaac's sister.

Until now I have refrained from posting the picture of Isaac that has haunted me for weeks. Today, as some justice was served, I feel the need to. The little boy to the left is the Isaac.

Will this be true justice for Isaac? Perhaps some. But true and full justice will only be served when the system that bounced him around from one horrendous nightmare to another is fixed...for good. True justice will be served when his sister is placed in a loving, caring, and healthy home. True justice will be served when the now 13-year-old girl who is thought to have held the force behind Isaac's injuries is given proper medical and psychological treatment. True justice will be served when no child is in danger of falling down Isaac's deadly path.

This should be the primary concern of our law makers and yet, sadly, it is not. Too often we let partisan politics, money, and prestige trump the people who need our help the most. Today we should be reminded of the honor and integrity that lies within each act to help a child and the way in which one decision, one law, one administrative act can change the course of history.

Put this in your pipe and smoke it (or don't)

I cannot wait for the day when I enter a restaurant in Michigan and am not asked "Smoking or Non?" There are a few that are going that way, but it should be mandatory. I'm sorry--because you smoke shouldn't mean I have to have an asthma attack, smelly clothes, a stuffy nose or any of the above.

And it appears they might be inching closer to that day in the Michigan legislature as documented here.

I will be so happy.

I'm sorry, smokers. I'd like to breathe while I eat and drink. Thankyouverymuch.