...and not only weak, but damaging to the court's credibility, and the faith of the public.... who must see the court as a rational arbiter of justice, or tremble at the thought of being on the wrong side of that institution. The outcome damages the court more than the two sentenced.
> I wondered where you were going until your last clause. It does not really matter what they are compared to you and me. It does not matter if they are pains to deal with. That does not excuse using the color of the law to mistreat them... If they commit crimes, then the authorities should gather evidence, charge them and earn a conviction. If they are not committing crimes, then the authorities that use the color of law to harrass them are commiting a crime. Charging someone with stealing garbage from a garbage can is a weak response by poor officials.
Agreed, no argument at all. I don't like what the authorities did, and I don't think it was justified.
I'm just not going to express surprise and shock that the City decided to over-hassle some hippies in the middle of a Rainbow Gathering. It happens all the time, and it's happened since I was a kid in the late 60's.
Maybe instead of saying "I think the City's over-reaction has an explanation" I should say something like "The City's over-reaction does not surprise or shock me, seeing as how I was 18 years old in 1970 and had long hair and played rock and roll and got hassled for hanging with hippies in Philly (and I wasn't making actual trouble either) and as the French would say, Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose."
I do not like this attitude "If the townspeople don't like you, you can go to jail for nothing" here.