Stop Complaining About The Law – By John Reed

Stop Complaining About The Law
I am a lawbreaker. At least according to a local gendarme in a neighboring town last Spring. All my protestations of innocence, of the slow log truck I was trying to pass, of my being late for a meeting fell on deaf ears. Naturally I grumbled about being singled out: surely there must have been other people going 75 in a 55 zone. Stupid speeding laws. Dumb cops enforcing them.
Weeks later, after I substantially enriched the coffers of said city, I started following the news about illegal immigrants being separated from their children when they were arrested. Déjà vu, I said. Another stupid law, being enforced stupidly. Certainly the talking heads on many TV networks thought so.
But then I started looking beyond the hysteria. It turns out previous presidential administrations detained and separated families, too. The difference is that back then, it was a sort of willy-nilly thing. Some illegals got a pass, others didn’t. What’s new is now there are no exceptions to the rules. Those who break our laws sneaking into the country now face the certainty in how the law will treat them.
In other words, the law is being enforced uniformly. Most reasonable people would rather see the laws of our society enforced uniformly…another word for fairly. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of disagreement over the term “fair.” I’ll leave that for another column. What would happen if certain people didn’t have to follow the law? Oh wait: that’s probably what cost Hillary the election in 2016.
Our system of government has a very clear arrangement: the legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch enforces the laws. The judiciary interprets the laws and settles disputes between conflicting laws. That was the original intent anyway. The lines have blurred a lot in 200 years.
But for the most part, that’s how things work. Don’t blame the executive for a bad law; Trump didn’t write it. If you don’t like a law, you have two choices: push your senator or congressman to change the law, or sue in court to strike it down. I’ll be the first to agree the situation on the border isn’t good, but blaming ICE for enforcing immigration law is like me blaming the trooper for pulling me over: they’re just doing their job.
Don’t like a law? Change it!