I’ve had to deal with family and friends assesment of the crime so I’ve heard a number of people share their thoughts about murder, punishment, justice, etc. While faithful people have been pretty good about the pain and sadness side of Marc’s going, the ‘justice’ theme at times got some peoples emotions riled. So I felt a real responsibility not just to Marc but to family, community to deal with the theme of justice correctly.
Some things about the case/crime are still too painful to share, so you just have to pardon my ‘general’ telling of the details. But I have to write about ‘justice’ or some folks will say, ‘oh, there goes another lousy case of justice,’ or ‘you know what those homeless criminals are like,’ or ‘that mom will never live with that result’, etc.
I don’t want anyone to think anything was shoddy in Marc’s case, even tho the defendant got fewer years than say someone with a life of crime might, or the actual incident had been more complicated . Some of us feared there would be a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the defendant, that would have been hard to bear! We were bound by Oregon laws for serious crimes, laws that the people voted for, not the politicians, so no one could sway the court either way basically.
Many people never seem to get much justice. One thing I really learned walking this out with Marc …. if you haven’t learned yet, you must if you want to be happy … you have to always work for justice in every area of life! Women have to learn that just as much as men. We can’t expect others to know and carry out justice for us, as a rule. Yes, pray for justice but also do what you can to make it happen!
