We Are All Criminals

You may have seen the image stating “We Are All Criminals” on my Facebook page. The statement is a necessary reminder for me as well as an acknowledgement of the excellent work of Emily Baxter and her team at weareallcriminals.org

Are We All Criminals?

I work closely every day with people charged with crimes whom the State wants to punish.

But always in the back of my mind is the fact that I am a criminal and so are the prosecutor, the judge, the jurors, and everyone else in the courthouse.

“What, me? I am not!”

Well, how about not reporting a little cash income on your taxes or running a water line or building a deck on your home without a permit or running a red light.

No big deal? Did you know that more people are killed by speeding drivers than by drunk drivers?

If you have ever used drugs, you’ve committed a felony (using current Minnesota law). If you ever gave your spouse one of your prescription pain pills to help with her migraine, that is also a felony. Have you read a text while sitting at a stop light? That’s a crime (Minn. Stat. 169.475).

Always in the back of my mind is the fact that I am a criminal and so are the prosecutor, the judge, the jurors, and everyone else in the courthouse.

President Obama admitted to using cocaine, and President Trump admitted to sexual assault.

What’s the Big Deal?

Tony Cornish, the irascible Chair of the Minnesota House “Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee,” thinks victims of police brutality have themselves to blame.  He infamously stated this in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Don’t be a thug and lead a life of crime so that you come into frequent contact with police.”  Chairman Cornish has a distorted view of who criminals are!

Justice, Fairness?

On the one hand, there are laws and there are laws.  Some people are punished for actions that are not intrinsically evil; others are serving long prison terms for actions that were illegal at one point but no longer are.  Still others have done things that were legal then, but we see now as reprehensible.

In legal terms, we refer to laws that are “malum in se,” (laws that criminalize unacceptable behavior, such as assault or theft) and laws that are “malum prohibitum” (criminalization of actions that are not intrinsically evil or do not injure others or impinge on others’ well-being).

Violating building codes, driving with an expired license, or using drugs could be seen as “malum prohibitum” offenses.

History and literature are rife with examples of people violating laws that are either malum prohibitum or, even more extreme, blatantly unjust: Martin Luther King’s law breaking is generally regarded as heroic, as is Rosa Parks’ refusal to obey segregation laws. Jean Valjean, the fictional hero of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, suffers a lifetime of consequences for stealing a loaf of bread to feed hungry children.

Consider the grace, luck, or other variables that put each of us in the role we temporarily occupy. And ask, “who gave me a pass?”

On the other hand, slavery and spousal rape (raping your wife) have been legal in this country and interracial marriage, illegal. In many states, possession and use of marijuana went from illegal to legal overnight. There are people serving long prison terms for doing what is now legal.

There But for the Grace of God . . . ?

I am not going to examine right here, right now why my college trespasses (both literal and figurative) were met with a disapproving frown and an admonition to make better choices, while others people’s behaviors led to arrests and criminal records. There but for the grace of something go I.

Have you gotten a pass?

I challenge you to cast an inquisitive eye on crime, criminals, jails, police, judges, and attorneys. Consider the grace, luck, or other variables that put each of us in the role we temporarily occupy. And ask, “who gave me a pass?”