OPINION:
The talking heads are still exploding all over the media, trying their best to figure out how in the world Donald Trump was elected to the presidency. Even those who supported Mr. Trump cannot fully explain what occurred in the minds of the majority of the electorate. It also certainly goes without saying that those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome up to, during, and after the election, simply cannot put into words the full array of their dismay and disappointment over the balloting that occurred on November 5.
This swirl of life and emotional disarray can also be exacerbated by how the incoming administration will now deal with the complex issues that served to frame the choices of Americans. While there is certainly a significant mandate based on the final outcome of both the popular vote and the Electoral College, the sharp division between our citizenry is glaringly stark. There is precious little consensus on most of the major decisions facing our country, much less the steps needed to be taken in order to deal with any particular issue.
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Certainly, the potential controversies facing Mr. Trump and his presidency are myriad, and it would be foolish to argue that we could even come to agreement on which was the most important one. Nevertheless, if people do not feel safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods, then all of the other freedoms we hold dear seem to pale in comparison. Based on this, one of the most crucial decisions that Mr. Trump will face in the coming days will be that of criminal justice reform.
Having been a trial court judge for over two decades, it is apparent to me that out-of-control crime and its punishment should be of great concern to the average citizen. Coupled with this major issue, there are also subsidiary concerns that will have to be addressed as well. These certainly will include mental health treatment and true prison reform, which of necessity must include bail and sentencing guidelines necessary to protect the American populace. This does not even begin to address the ridiculous laxity of border control that has existed over the last few years and what it will take now to rid our nation of the vermin-like gangs of criminals who have infiltrated our midst. As it stands now, we have invited a killing field mentality into the hearts of our major cities and our heartlands as well.
Just the past few days and weeks, our news headlines have screamed out anecdotal instances of both justice served and justice denied. The heinous murder of young Laken Riley, struck down before her prime, thankfully came to a merciful swift conclusion with a guilty verdict and life imprisonment without parole inflicted as a punishment. Though there could be valid argument in this case for the death penalty if it were an available alternative, still the swift and sure conclusion of the case brings an element of closure to Ms. Laken’s family. So, hats off to the presiding judge, who in this matter sat as both judge and jury.
Contrastingly, the same gesture is not applicable to Alvin Bragg, who holds himself out to be the arbiter of justice on the streets of New York. While he was a quick draw artist on bringing Mr. Trump to trial on “trumped” up charges, he has failed miserably in pursuing justice where it needs so desperately to be applied. Consider if you will, Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran charged with manslaughter for protecting the life and limb of subway passengers. If any of my family or friends had been on that train, it would have been a gracious act of God for Him to have placed someone like Mr. Penny between the cursing, knife-wielding wild man bent on destruction and my loved ones. But Mr. Bragg, in his George Soros grandeur, is not seeking justice in this case, but rather is promoting chaos and fear of great bodily harm.
If the Mr. Penny case was not enough, then consider the matter of Ramon Rivera, who walked the streets of New York randomly stabbing three different victims and watched as their blood streamed from their dying bodies. After the serial killings had been discovered, the perpetrator was found walking on the same streets of his heinous crimes, covered in the blood of his victims. But wait, though having been charged with grand larceny a few months before, he was released pretty much on his own recognizance even after the determination was made that he was seriously mentally ill and a danger to himself and society as a whole. In the final analysis, criminals are obviously preferred by Mr. Bragg and his like, over the actions of good solid people and particularly their safety.
These machinations of our criminal justice system, both good and bad, are being replayed all across our nation. If we are to survive as a nation, we as a people must ensure that, unlike the current status, the correct outcomes are the norm and the wrongful actions of those in charge are the exceptions. We begin that task by demanding that those who are given the responsibility of representing the people in curbing crime are in fact successfully accomplishing their solemn duty to do so. Anything or anyone who even smacks of any connection to George Soros or his like must be removed from office at the soonest practical moment and replaced by those who actually care about curbing the criminal elements in our country.
Secondly, we must take the treatment of mental illness seriously. Responsible care for those suffering from violent symptoms of their disease, as was the case with Ramon Rivera or the man Mr. Penny had to restrain to prevent harm to his fellow passengers, must be provided separately and apart from the remaining population. When mental illness brings obvious signs of even the potential of violence, then the safety of the general population must be at the forefront of our policies and procedures.
In addition, true punishment that actually fits the violence and the severity of crime must return to reality. Finally, our prisons must be reformed from providing only the mere housing of inmates in caldrons of crime, to become actual institutions bent on rehabilitation and restitution. The single most effective and cheapest method of doing so is simply to not only allow but to promote faith-based programming within our prisons. Time and time again, the validity of the positive results of such activities has been shown but ignored because of some vague sense of political correctness.
Despite the hopes of many that Mr. Trump will bring much-needed change to bear that will deal successfully with all the things that need fixing in our nation, these thoughts just do not ultimately deal with reality. Though there are rays of hope to be found, we at Southern Evangelical Seminary recognize that the problems of our criminal justice system, as well as all the other mountains of concern facing our nation, are in actuality not political or cultural issues. Rather they are problems of the spiritual soul of our nation. Until such time as America turns its heart to the one true God who gave us our precious nation along with our rights and privileges, none of our freedoms will endure, and our problems will ultimately go unsolved. Until then, we are only putting band-aids of self-help on terminal spiritual cancer. Our only hope is in the only truth that matters, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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After a successful career as a lawyer and judge, Judge Phil Ginn retired as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District in North Carolina. Throughout his 22-year judicial career, he had the privilege of holding court in almost 50% of the county seats in North Carolina. Currently, Judge Ginn serves as the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (ses.edu) and is a regular contributor to Christianity.com and The Washington Times. Judge Ginn has also been featured on Fox News, CBN, Newsmax, Decision Magazine, The Christian Post, Townhall and many others.
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