1343 Legal Questing

Sometimes I find myself searching for some sort of answer when it comes to our legal system. Legal questing as it were. Some things just seem out of whack.
Like recently, a man was convicted for killing a child. He slashed her throat. The news story said he is facing a sentence of 26 years. Really? Ending a little girl’s life, a life that could have lasted another 85 years, and he only gets 26?
Not long after that, it was reported that a guy who was charged with four counts of making harassing phone calls and one count of internet stalking was facing a sentence of 5 years per count. So he was only going to get one year less than a guy who murdered a child.
Something is desperately out of balance on the scales of justice.
I was talking to a law enforcement person recently about the open carry handgun laws in Washington. “So it’s perfectly legal for me to openly wear a handgun into Starbucks, I don’t need a concealed weapons permit or anything?” I asked.
“No,” he said, “Washington is an open carry state.”
“How about a Taser,” I said.
“No,” he said, “It’s illegal to carry a Taser.”
“So it’s legal to carry a lethal device but not a non-lethal one?”
“That’s right,” he said, “Only law enforcement can carry non-lethal devices.”
Well there you go. I guess it cuts down on college pranks.
Maybe the whole problem is how we characterize justice. The famous statue of Justice is blindfolded. We get people out of jail by using bonds, often with a bondsman. We legally silence people with a gag order.
Blindfolds, gags, bonding…so is this a justice system, or some kind of S&M thing?
America, ya gotta love it.